Councils find 107,000 fraud cases

But a large majority (76 per cent) of non-benefit frauds were detected by a minority (25 per cent) of councils, leading to calls for all local authorities to review their policies to ensure they were doing everything they could to catch cheats.

Some 79 district councils found no non-benefit fraud at all.

The annual survey, by the Audit Commission, found that the total number of frauds detected in 2012/13 was down 14 per cent and their cash value down 1 per cent compared to the previous year.

The average value of each fraud was up by 15 per cent to £1,664.

Housing benefit and council tax benefit frauds accounted for £120m of the total revealed.

Commission chairman Jeremy Newman said: “We should be celebrating that local government has detected some 107,000 fraud cases.

“Most of the non-benefit fraud was identified by the top quarter of councils, which lead the way in the fight against fraud.

“If the other 75 per cent had found as much, we would see much higher overall rates of fraud detection.

“Not to detect a single case of non-benefit fraud does raise concerns about the priorities and resources in those councils to tackle fraud.”