Investigations team saves Adur and Worthing councils hundreds of thousands of pounds

A report to a meeting of the joint governance committee said the corporate investigations team looked into 435 cases following a review of people receiving the 25 per cent single person discount.

Of those 435 cases, 74 had the discount re-awarded but 361 will have to repay a total of £138,583.80 – an average of £383 each.

The review covered 6,743 households.

A council spokesman said no court action was taken against any of those involved, adding: “We understand that people’s circumstances change and these are not always reported to us which can lead to discounts being wrongly applied.

“This is why we work with residents to ensure repayment plans are reasonable and fair.”

A previous review in Worthing led to more than £465,000 being reclaimed.

As well as the council tax discounts, the team also looked into 202 cases of tenancy fraud, 137 applications for homeless assistance, three Right To Buy claims, and 1,207 housing applications – ensuring those who applied were entitled to social housing in the Adur and Worthing areas.

Including the council tax review, a total of £707,726.86 was reclaimed.

The spokesman said: “[The] focus of the work was on single person discounts for council tax, housing register applications and homeless assistance applications with the emphasis on ensuring that those who genuinely need assistance are given access to it – by identifying those who aren’t.

“For the housing register and homelessness applications, we have a strict eligibility criteria.

“Where we find that a person is not entitled to the support they’ve applied to, they are removed from it.”

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