The work of Powys County Council’s counter anti-error and fraud team (CAFT) will clawback £1.329 million for the authority by the end of March, a committee will be told.

At a meeting of the council’s Governance and Audit committee on Wednesday, January 15, members will receive a report on the ongoing work of CAFT, which had 60 ongoing investigations on their books at the end of December.

The report gives a breakdown of ongoing investigations, which include six cases against council staff, 16 on council tax discounts and 17 on council tax reductions.

A further eight investigations are taking place into potential tenancy fraud and three housing benefit cases are being probed.

The report said: “CAFT continue to undertake a series of proactive work and review exercises that seek to verify eligibility to reliefs, discounts, disregards, exemptions, awards and more, across the council in key areas, then correct any that are error including re-bill/recover funds as appropriate and identify any that may warrant full criminal investigation.

“The team are currently joint working on six cases with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) Fraud team around undeclared living together, capital, and income situations.”

The report also shows that no further action or that insufficient or no evidence had been found in 23 cases involving council tax discounts and reductions, as well as non-domestic rates.

Fraud had been detected in seven cases and a council house tenancy application was stopped or prevented.

The team have also traced 25 cases of “absconded debtors” which could see the debts recovered.

The report said that the value of the recoverable overpayments and re-bills for the council is £333,181.

The value of potential income saved, or potential revenue gained by the council is £946,521.

Other gains for the public purse are said to be £50,270.

The report said: “In 2024, we witnessed significant strides in identifying and reducing fraud.

“However, the battle is far from over.

“Fraud manifests in various forms, from false claims and identity theft to sophisticated cyber schemes.

“Each incident represents a betrayal of public trust. and a diversion of resources meant for the common good.

“Our vision is for a future where fraud is not tolerated, where every public servant and citizen of Powys plays a role in safeguarding our resources.”