West Dunbartonshire Council is committed to develop an anti-fraud culture among its employees and the public. The Council will seek to ensure that fraud is prevented wherever possible and where detected, it will be thoroughly investigated, overpayments recovered, and consideration given to all civil and criminal disposal options.
How to report fraud
The Council has a dedicated fraud team trained to investigate fraudulent claims in the areas of Tenancy, Procurement, Council Tax Reduction, Scottish Welfare Fund, Social Care, Employee, Insurance, Council Tax exemptions & discounts and Blue Badges.
If you think someone has committed fraud you can contact us now via:
- Tel: 01389 738217
- Email: fraudinvestigation@west-dunbarton.gov.uk
- Completing our on-line fraud referral form:
The more information that you can provide the better our investigation will be.
Any information that you give will be treated in the strictest of confidence and you do not need to tell us your name.
How can fraud be detected?
There are a range of methods used to prevent and detect fraud used by West Dunbartonshire Council, such as:
- Matching its records against those held by the Department for Work and Pensions and other government agencies.
- Cross matching internal data.
- Information can be obtained from employers and credit reference agencies
- Evidence can be gathered through other official sources.
Although there are various means of detecting fraud one of the most useful sources of information comes from local knowledge and receiving information from the public.
Report Benefit Fraud
If you would like to report benefit fraud, you can on our benefit fraud page.
Whistleblowing: Report suspected wrongdoing
West Dunbartonshire Council has a duty to make sure public funds are properly used and protected, for everyone's benefit. We are committed to preventing people committing fraud and becoming involved in corruption and bribery. We are also committed to making sure we have the right controls in place to prevent these acts from happening at all. Given the potentially high cost of fraud to you, we would encourage you to let us know if you detect or suspect someone is involved in this activity.
West Dunbartonshire Council is committed to ensuring that it, and the people working for it, complies with the highest standards of openness, honesty and accountability. However, we acknowledge that there may be occasions when things go wrong or the Council may unknowingly harbour unethical conduct. We believe a culture of openness and accountability is essential in order to prevent such situations occurring or to address them if they do occur.
Employees who Whistleblow are protected by the law under the Public Interest Disclosure legislation for more details see the Public Interest Disclosure on our intranet.
If you are aware of serious wrongdoing, you should contact us and let us know. We will treat all information in the strictest of confidence and look into all allegations and take action were appropriate.
01389 737272
If you would rather report to us online please complete the form: