The Head of Revenues and
Benefits Shared Service introduced the report, stating that the
fraud and compliance team worked across the Maidstone, Swale and
Tunbridge Wells Authorities. An understanding had been reached for
the team to generate at least £400,000 in savings whilst
being mainly funded by Kent County Council (KCC).
In 2019/20 the focus on the
National Fraud Initiative data and small business rate relief
accounts and New Homes Bonus had generated a total of £1.3
million in savings.
For the current year, the
re-deployment of staff during the Covid-19 pandemic was
highlighted, however £1.5 million had been identified in
savings so far in the current financial year.
KCC had introduced debt brought
back into recovery into the fraud and compliance figures through
online tracing of those residents that had absconded. A report
providing the final savings figures generated for the current
financial year would be presented to the Committee in the Summer of
2021.
In response to questions, it
was confirmed that the savings figure for New Homes Bonus of
£543,200 had been generated across all three local
authorities.
RESOLVED: That the contents of the report be noted.