Nation.Cymru staff
Checks on public sector records have identified £8.7 million in fraud, overpayments, errors and estimated savings in Wales, but auditors have warned that delays in investigating cases could leave public money at risk.
Audit Wales said the latest National Fraud Initiative exercise produced the highest total reported across the last five rounds, up £1.6 million on the previous exercise.
The figure includes £2.8 million in actual fraud, overpayments and errors identified, alongside £5.9 million in estimated future losses prevented. It does not represent £8.7 million recovered.
By the end of March 2026, public bodies reported that £2.5 million had been recovered or was in the process of recovery.
The initiative compares electronic records held by public bodies to flag possible discrepancies, such as someone receiving a discount they are no longer entitled to. A match is not proof of wrongdoing and requires further investigation.
The latest report covers results recorded between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2026.
Council tax single person discounts accounted for the largest share of the total, at £3 million. That included £1.2 million in discounts already received by people who were not eligible and £1.8 million in estimated future losses prevented.
Councils also cancelled 2,791 blue badges, which allow eligible people to use disabled parking concessions. The estimated value of preventing their misuse was £2.2 million.
Checks compare badge records with information including death records and other badge registrations to identify permits that may no longer be valid.
A further 330 ineligible housing waiting list applications were cancelled, accounting for £1.4 million in estimated savings. These checks help councils identify applications containing incorrect information or where circumstances have changed.
Audit Wales found that public bodies had generally engaged better with the latest exercise. However, it raised concerns about the speed of follow-up work and the accuracy of records.
Delays can allow incorrect payments, discounts or potentially fraudulent activity to continue, increasing losses and making money harder to recover.
Around a quarter of the data matches recorded as processed during the exercise were dealt with in its final six months. Further investigations were still taking place after the reporting period ended.
Auditors also found that £1.1 million of the reported total would not have been captured without corrections prompted by their own review.
Public trust
Catherine Mealing-Jones, Auditor General for Wales, said: “The NFI is a key tool in the fight to prevent and detect fraud, overpayment, and error which, if left unchecked, can chip away at public trust and confidence in our vital public services and lead to financial losses.”
She added: “That is why we will continue to develop our work on the NFI as we know there is more that we and public bodies can do.”
Since the initiative began in 1996, Welsh bodies have reported a cumulative total of £65.2 million in identified losses and estimated savings.
Data supplied by Welsh organisations also contributed to £2.1 million in results reported elsewhere in the UK, through checks between public bodies across national borders.
The post Fraud checks uncover £8.7m in incorrect payments and potential savings in Wales appeared first on Nation.Cymru.