Callcredit welcomes the publication of The Audit Commissions report

Callcredit is delighted that this report highlights the increasing value that Local Authorities ascribe to accessing accurate data in their fight against public sector fraud.

Callcredit's Director of Public Sector, Andrew Davis commented, "This report further highlights the strategic value of data as a weapon in combating public sector fraud, especially housing tenancy fraud. We are all now becoming more aware of the scale of public sector fraud, consequently it is important that all local authorities implement thorough strategies going forwards to detect and prevent it, through the sharing data and using identified best practice including the use of credit reference data".

"We believe that Local Authorities, with the right financial mechanisms in place, can use existing data in a more effective way, such as by data matching, and this will help them to use existing resources much more effectively".

Andrew concluded, "Housing fraud in particular is a modern day scourge on our society that causes real distress. It keeps families out of homes to which they are entitled and lengthens waiting lists unnecessarily".