Clamping down on council tax fraud

In particular, Hartlepool Borough Council is targeting fraudulent Single Person Discount claims with the aim of saving up to £150,000 a year.

A Single Person Discount reduces a council tax bill by 25% where there is only one person over the age of 18 in a household.

The Council is giving people until 30th April to get their affairs in order, but after that date anyone found to be claiming dishonestly could face prosecution.

Director of Finance, IT and Digital Services James Magog said: “Fraud is never acceptable, and we are not prepared to tolerate it. It is a drain on the Council’s resources and reduces the amount of money we have available to spend on providing services to local residents.

“The Council has formed a team to proactively tackle council tax fraud and its work will involve reviewing various information sources including, credit agencies, the electoral register and, where appropriate, social media

“However, we want to give people a chance to bring their council tax records up to date so a prosecution amnesty will remain in place until 30th April. After that, we will look to prosecute where there has been dishonesty in disclosing relevant information.”

Residents wishing to amend their claim can email revenues@hartlepool.gov.uk

Anyone wishing to report suspected fraud can contact the Council in the following ways:

• Single Person Discount fraud – SPDinvestigations@hartlepool.gov.uk
• Other council tax fraud – Investigations@hartlepool.gov.uk
• Anonymously – www.hartlepool.gov.uk/report-fraud