The Government has vowed to use tech to root out public sector workers defrauding the taxpayer, including those secretly claiming two salaries for a single job.
Earlier this year, The i Paper revealed that a senior civil servant was paid for multiple full-time jobs they held in different government departments at the same time.
A Cabinet Office document detailing allegations of fraud in the public sector disclosed that the official had held three jobs simultaneously on two separate occasions between 2022 and 2024.
Freedom of Information requests made by The i Paper later ascertained that since the pandemic nine councils had identified at least 37-cases of so-called “polygamous working” – where workers were paid for multiple full-tile jobs held at the same time.
Campaigners believe the disclosures of polygamous working in local authorities are just the “tip of the iceberg” and the numbers could run into hundreds with millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money being wasted at a time when council tax is rising local authorities are struggling to balance their books.
This week, a woman was handed 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, for polygamous working at Barnet Council.
Sally Bodom was employed as a business support office in the council’s family services department while also being employed full-time by Croydon Council’s housing department. The case was uncovered by the Public Sector Fraud Authority.
Along with the suspended sentence, she was ordered to perform unpaid work, to complete rehabilitation activity requirements and to pay £10,000 compensation to Barnet Council.
The Government is vowing to root out similar cases of fraud through the use of modern technology.
Writing for The i Paper, Josh Simons, a Cabinet Office minister, said that Bodom had been “collecting two salaries for one person’s time, hoping the chaos of a busy workplace would let her get away with it”.
“That double pay packet came straight out of the pot meant for our bin collections and local parks.”
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While “fraudsters are getting smarter”, Simons said the Government is learning too.
He said a new National Fraud Initiative would use “modern tech to let councils compare records across the board”, allowing it to match “payrolls, pensions and benefits data to spot things that clearly don’t add up”.
“So, let this be a warning to anyone else thinking they can fly under the radar. We have the tools to catch you, and we will use them.”
What does Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons say?
Work hard and play fair.
Most of us expect that others will abide by those values. Paying our fair share, playing by the rules, being decent.
Sadly, for all the honest people that are the backbone of this country, there are also fraudsters who want to game the system.
This week, a woman was sentenced for ‘polygamous working’ following a prosecution brought by Barnet Council.
She was handed 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, told to perform unpaid work and pay £10,000 in compensation to the council.
She didn’t outsmart the system with hard work – she just didn’t fully show up.
She was collecting two salaries for one person’s time, hoping the chaos of a busy workplace would let her get away with it.
That double pay packet came straight out of the pot meant for our bin collections and local parks.
That is the kind of thing that can be spotted and rooted out more easily now with the Public Sector Fraud Authority, focused on stopping scammers treating the public purse like a free-for-all.
Fraudsters are getting smarter, but so are we. The National Fraud Initiative uses modern tech to let councils compare records across the board. It matches payrolls, pensions and benefits data to spot things that clearly don’t add up. Like, in this case, the same person clocking in for two different jobs at the same desk.
The game was up.
So, let this be a warning to anyone else thinking they can fly under the radar. We have the tools to catch you, and we will use them.
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