Housing Fraud in Local Government: Building a Team That Goes All In

Laura Piggott, Counter Fraud Manager at the London Borough of Hillingdon, spoke at Counter Fraud 2026 in conversation with Tom Etheridge, Deputy Director for Policy at the Public Sector Fraud Authority. Drawing on 11 years in counter fraud and leading one of the largest local authority fraud teams in London, she shared how Hillingdon approaches housing fraud, builds stakeholder support and gets results from the National Fraud Initiative. Here is a summary of what she said:

Finding fraud is a good thing

Laura's opening message was straightforward: her team treats finding fraud as a positive outcome, not an embarrassment. When fraud is identified, it creates an opportunity to examine the risks entering the organisation, build action plans, and strengthen prevention and detection measures. The team works closely with their internal audit colleagues - closely enough that they share an office. That proximity, she said, makes a practical difference to how risks are identified and acted on.

The motivation is also tangible. Hillingdon's team works across both emergency accommodation and housing tenancy fraud. When a property is recovered from a fraudulent occupant and handed to a family in genuine need, that outcome is visible, direct and meaningful. It is, she said, what keeps the team motivated and proud of the work they do.

Public trust starts with demonstrating action

On the question of public trust, Laura was practical. Residents are not naive about fraud - they know it happens and they want to see something done about it. Hillingdon has invested in communicating its work openly: attending residents' hub groups, running a Key Amnesty scheme, and tailoring communications to show both what fraud looks like and what the council is doing to tackle it. The reaction from residents, she said, is consistently positive. They are not surprised that fraud exists. They are reassured that the council is taking it seriously and spending public money appropriately.

Blue Badge fraud and subletting are two areas that resonate particularly strongly with residents. Both feel immediate and local, and both generate visible results when action is taken.

Building a team - and the resources to sustain it

Hillingdon's counter fraud team has grown to 22 people, making it one of the largest in London. Laura was clear about how that growth has been achieved: through a combination of rigorous return on investment reporting, strong relationships with the Section 151 Officer and elected members, and a self-funding model. The team does not cost the authority money - it generates a financial return. That case, made clearly and repeatedly to budget holders, is what secures continued investment.

Her advice for others trying to build resource was direct. Identify an emerging fraud risk, build a business case around it, and take it to the right people with a clear return on investment argument. The relationship with the Section 151 Officer matters enormously. Where there is a direct line between the Head of counter fraud and the budget holder, without layers of management in between, the conversation is faster and the decisions are quicker. She can walk into her Section 151 Officer's office tomorrow to discuss a new idea. That access, she said, has been fundamental to the team's growth.

Secondments: doubling capacity and building knowledge

One of the most practical tools Laura described was the use of secondments. When Hillingdon identified emergency accommodation as an emerging fraud risk, the team ran a pilot that brought in secondees from the housing service. The benefits were twofold: the secondees brought detailed housing knowledge the fraud team lacked, and the fraud team's methods and tools were shared across the wider organisation. Staff who return to their original service areas carry that understanding with them.

Secondments also have an immediate operational benefit. When two Officers need to attend a visit, sending a secondee alongside a permanent team member spreads the workload and increases throughput. A team of 22, managed well with secondments in place, can operate with the effective capacity of considerably more.

The National Fraud Initiative: go all in while the data is fresh

Laura described a deliberate decision this financial year to dedicate a full section of the team to working through every single NFI match as soon as the data was released. Most local authorities pursue a small fraction of their matches. Hillingdon pursued all of them, immediately.

The results were the highest the team has ever achieved from an NFI exercise: over £250,000 recovered in council tax reduction, single person discount and housing benefit cases, and over 100 fraudulent applications closed. The team also worked the NFI Fraud Hub - which carries fresher, more regularly updated data - and recovered 15 properties through that route alongside deceased data matches.

The rationale is straightforward. Data changes quickly. Circumstances change. A match that is valid today may be harder to evidence in three to six months. Acting immediately, while the data is fresh, produces better results. Once the NFI work is done, the team moves on to the next priority. It is an intensive effort for a defined period, not an ongoing daily commitment.

What is next for the team

Looking ahead, Laura outlined several areas of development:

• Extending access to the NFI's App Check tool to other service areas, including homeless prevention and HR.
• Digital automation of data reporting, working with ICT to enable the team to submit NFI reports more frequently and independently.
• Digital Skills Apprenticeships for team members, building the technical capability of the team for the future.
• Continued engagement with the London Borough Fraud Investigators Group and the Tenancy Fraud Forum for training, development and shared best practice.

Fraud awareness across the organisation

Laura also touched on how Hillingdon embeds fraud awareness more broadly. Every new member of staff completes a mandatory online fraud awareness course as part of their induction. Bespoke fraud awareness sessions are offered to individual service areas on request - tailored to their specific risks rather than generic, so that staff engage with content that is directly relevant to their work. Open-door shadow working and joint visits help other parts of the organisation understand what counter fraud work actually involves and why it matters.

The thread running through everything she described is the same: a team that believes finding fraud is a positive outcome, communicates that belief clearly to colleagues and residents alike, and backs it up with results.