Blue badge and bus pass misuse play part in £21m fraud increase

PUBLIC sector fraud identified in Scotland has risen by almost 50 per cent, a government finance watchdog has revealed.

- CRAIG PATON

As part of the UK-wide National Fraud Initiative (NFI) - which crossmatches data from more than 110,000 public bodies across the country and flags instances of potential fraud- a total of £21.5million was identified north of the Border in 2022-23.

The NFI in Scotland is administered by Audit Scotland, the country's public sector finance watchdog.

This increased from £14.9million in 2020-21, the last time figures were released.

The exercise sorts fraud into three types, actual savings, estimates of future savings and notional outcome estimates - which do not feature any specific cash amount, such as relating to a blue badge or a housing waiting list, but the value is estimated.

In the most recent year, forward savings estimated made up the highest amount, with £8.9million, compared with £6.8million in notional estimates and £5.7million in actual savings.