Blackpool Council has been participating every year in the National Fraud Initiative, a government Cabinet Office anti-fraud exercise which matches data between public and private sector bodies to prevent and detect fraud or an error in council tax discounts which does not fulfill people’s own tax responsibilities.

The National Fraud Initiative plays a critical role in identifying people trying to defraud the public sector or errors in their council tax liabilities, ensuring taxpayers’ money goes towards delivering vital services and protecting public money.

Since April 2023, the corporate fraud and investigations team at Blackpool Council have participated in an enhanced National Fraud Initiative exercise, focusing on the Single Person Discount.

Blackpool’s corporate fraud and investigations team have during this period identified 539 incorrect claims for Single Person Discount and/or Council Tax Reduction in Blackpool, which totals £284,372.92, as well as preventing further losses had these inaccurate discounts continued.

Checks are carried out on those households in receipt of the Single Person Discount to ensure that council tax accounts are accurate and up to date. These checks include cross-referencing with the Electoral Register, credit reference data and a range of information held within the National Fraud Initiative data sets.

Information reminder

If only one adult lives in the property your council tax bill is reduced by 25%; this is known as Single Person Discount. However, if there is more than one adult living in your property you should not be receiving Single Person Discount.

Residents should inform Blackpool Council of any changes to their circumstances online 

Fraud can be reported online 

Blackpool Council, Cllr Bradley Mitchell, Chair of the Audit Committee, said