Councils' anti-fraud action 'could be decimated'

摘要

Local government's largest trade union has warned that councils' anti-fraud activity could be 'decimated overnight' ifWhitehall expedites its plan for a Single Fraud Investigation Service (SFIS). Unison recently sent a circular to its branch secretaries, warning that civil servants appear to have ditched earlier plans to thoroughly pilot their SFIS regime prior to rolling it out nationally. Under the SFIS plan, around 860 local authority and private contractor staff will be transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions to create a significant anti-fraud service within Whitehall.