Benefit claimants in Wakefield district forced to pay back cash they received in error

A total of 562 people living in the Wakefield district received a council tax discount or housing benefit they were not entitled to between April and December 2019.

Wakefield Council said the cases all involved people who had failed to notify them of a change in circumstances which meant they were no longer entitled to the cash.

The average amount each claimant received in error was around £247.

A report, which is going before a council committee next week, said that the cases had all been referred to the National Fraud Initiative, which is run by the government.

It added: "562 errors were found which created a total overpayment of £138,683.23.

"These overpayments relate to a number of benefits and discounts and are recoverable by the local authority."

The cases were listed alongside other examples of fraudulent activity which cost the taxpayer cash last year.

These included 32 instances of council tax fraud, which cost a combined total of more than £9,000, and nine cases of people fraudulently using disabled parking badges.

Local Democracy Reporting Service