A national counter-fraud initiative led to more than 100 blue badges in Angus being cancelled after computer data revealed the holders were no longer alive.
The tally emerged as part of anexercise undertaken every two years by all Scots local authorities aimed atrooting out fraud and error in a range of areas including payments to councils, housing benefit, right to buy and the issue of the blue badge permits todisabled drivers.
Angus Council chiefs have said the findings from datasets submitted to the National Fraud Initiative (NFI)confirmed that the authority has “robust” control systems in place.
But they have admitted procedures could be looked at to improve the checks on blue badges after one leading councillor expressed surprise over the 112 blue badge cancellations made in the wake of the data matching exercise.
Ex-council leader Bob Myles said: “There’s surely something wrong with our system if it doesn’t take into account that 112 people have died.”
The NFI is compulsory for local authorities and coordinated by Audit Scotland. The data-matching initiative involves comparing computer records held by one body against othercomputer records held by the same or another body, usually personal information which may include names, addresses and dates of birth.
Where a match is found it mayindicate that there is an inconsistency which requires further investigation, and although most of the records matched raise no concerns at all, the NFI programme nationwide has been successful in securing outcomes valued in excess of £15 million.
Angus scrutiny and audit committee members were told this week that from the October 2014 datasets the authority received 67 reports, with a total of 3,403 individual matches.
The majority related to creditors (1,456 matches) and housing benefit (1,111). Of the creditor cases closed, the vast majority were confirmed as genuine non-duplicate payments.
Housing benefit investigation initially focused on student loan matches, with 27 of the 35 cases identified being closed as “no issue” matters.
Councillors were told a further 17 housing benefit/student loan matches have now been passed to the DWP for further investigation.