Housing Fraud The Bolton Experience Craig Hardman & David Miles

Background 2009/10 Bolton at Home successful with their bid to receive Government funding The project was to identify and measure the problem of Housing Fraud within the Bolton area A clear policy and process was required for staff to work towards identifying and tackling Housing Fraud Good partnership working would be key to tackling Housing Fraud

The Bolton Experience Developed and introduced a set of policies and procedures Staff trained on identifying and investigating Housing Fraud Established procedures to investigate reports and to provide feedback to reporters of fraud Development of a in-house data base system to allow BH to review existing reports of fraud and seek recovery were fraud is proven Raise customer awareness of impacts Advertising campaign, including posters and leaflets Reporting Hotline & address (report on- line)

F.R.E.D F.R.E.D is Bolton at Home’s Fraud Recording Evidence Database The database had been created to log all reported cases of Housing Fraud Provides reports for cases that are open and are closed Providing the ability to highlight area’s that have a high amount of housing fraud reports/cases Producing graphs and pie charts to highlight which type of fraud is the most common and by area/stock type

Advantages Local Officers with a good ‘patch’ knowledge of the area/customers Enhanced partnership working Ability to accurately record/report on cases Opportunity to review & revise P&P’s Disadvantages Resource intensive Reliant on reports being received from members of the public 90% of cases identified by Officers Basic monitoring of cases

Housing Fraud Project started September properties recovered within the first six months To date, 77 properties recovered Over 300 hundred cases investigated Information Sharing protocols established Joint interviews undertaken with Councils Home Ownership Section & Benefit Fraud team Awareness training delivered to all BCH partners

Recent Developments Establishment of Specialist teams located in the four Neighbourhoods as previous structures and processes lacked a ‘service delivery focus’ and consistency Better use of resources and value for money Enhanced partnership development Who’s Home? – Pilot April 2014

Whos Home Initial Feedback WHO’S HOME BOLTON AT HOME PILOT INITIAL FINDINGS

Stock LevelCategoryRedOrangeAmberYellow 2133Benefit concerns0.14%12.33% 13.88% Direct Debit usage10.17%6.38%32.40%18.05% Inefficient use of stock0.42%17.16%19.17% Overcrowded households 1.41% Possible deceased0.47% Tenancy discrepancies3.47%4.13%3.05%0.89% Tenancy fraud Concerns0.09%2.02%1.78% Welfare reform concerns0.42%13.13%18.00% 15.19%55.13%75.81%32.82%

Potential Cases Identified

Enforcement Team - April just started using Who’s Home, have identified 2 cases of tenancy fraud and a further 3 cases are being checked for fraud – but very early days! Supports proactive and accurate record keeping – e.g. deceased accounts showing joint tenancy when one has died. Identification of tenants who have direct debit facility will prove to be very useful when Universal Credit comes, will support targeted marketing of DD facility. Who’s Homes has confirmed 12 records were correct but has flagged up 6 tenancies where a tenant had moved out and someone new has moved in that we had no knowledge. Feedback from Bolton at Home

Who’s Home is very easy to access, screens are well laid out, colour coding works well. A good starting point in investigating fraud with initial enquiries being followed in a consistent way. Training still ongoing, but staff want more training More use of system will increase learning, knowledge and positive outputs Feedback from Bolton at Home

“Housing tenancy fraud is not a victimless crime – it reduces the quality of life for tens thousands of families who are unable to access social housing. Tenancy fraud affects families on housing waiting lists and cost taxpayers at least £900 million per year. It is essential for social housing providers and local authorities to work together sharing best practice, knowledge and experience to tackle tenancy fraud and free up homes for those in need. In particular they should make better use of data matching services, such as the National Fraud Initiative, and take part in the Tenancy Fraud Forum”. Eugene Sullivan, Chief Executive of the Audit Commission