MORE than £300,000 has been clawed back by the council after thousands of single person discount claims for council tax were challenged.
The huge sum is revealed in the council’s anti fraud report for 2015/16 which highlights the work done by its Corporate Anti-Fraud Team (CAFT) from April 1 last year to March 31 this year.
It showed there were 6,942 single person discount review letters issued over discounts that required follow-up.
Cancellations of this discount to date - for 1,179 accounts - have earned the council an additional £321,947 in council tax income.
A further £20,699 of council tax was raised after the fraud team challenged 70 taxpayers over an incorrect declared dates for change of status.
As a public body, the council said it knows it is vulnerable to acts of fraud, corruption or irregularity committed within and outside the council.
Read more in this weeks Barnsley Chronicle
