TWO retired health professionals - a doctor and a dentist - have been caught claiming a council tax discount they were not entitled to.

Anti-fraud investigators at Argyll and Bute Council re-billed the pair thousands of pounds after the false claims came to light.

The details are revealed in a report on the work of the local authority's 'counter fraud team', to be considered by councillors next week.

The report reveals that the two retirees had continued to claim a "job-related dwelling" exemption on their council tax even though they were no longer working.

Council officials re-billed the pair for a total of nearly £4,000, which the report says has been paid in full.

The report also reveals that another claimant had been receiving a council tax discount for a home classified as "for sale" - when investigations found it should have been classified as an "empty home" and that a double charge should have been levied.

That claimant was rebilled for £5,295, or which £3,252 has been recovered.

An application for a business support grant of £6,000 was also found to be fraudulent, with the CFT becoming involved when the rates team asked for advice. The grant was refused.

The names and locations of the claimants have not been revealed in the report, which has been prepared for a meeting of the local authority's audit and scrutiny committee on Tuesday, September 14.

A total of 38 referrals to the authority’s counter fraud team (CFT) were made in the first three months of the 2021/22 financial year.

That figure is already more than the 34 received by the officers in charge of the project between September 2020, when the pilot scheme began, and March 2021.

Laurence Slavin, the council’s interim head of financial services, said in the report: “A large element of the work of the CFT focuses on maximizing the council’s revenue streams by reducing the amount of benefit fraud (deliberate and ‘accidental’).

“The primary way this is achieved is through being proactive and performing reviews of specific categories of benefits where cumulative knowledge and experience indicates a higher chance of a successful outcome, due to them being areas where either fraud or out of date information may be leading to the council not recognising the appropriate level of revenue.

“Some examples are single person discounts, student exemptions, second homes, long term empty properties, and bi-annual reviews for penalty charges and reviews of residential properties used as places of employment.”

In relation to reactive work by the CFT, Mr Slavin added: “The CFT continues to receive referrals of alleged council tax fraud which have resulted in comprehensive investigatory work.

“Through the investigations, most allegations are not supported by evidence.

"However, we welcome referrals as it continues to make us accountable to our constituents, and elected members, and also helps raise the profile of the team.”