Kent County Council expect to recover £4 million of taxpayer money with a new government grant to tackle fraudsters.

The £480,000 grant will be used to create a data sharing partnership across Kent local authorities, police and fire services, and detect fraudulent claims.

Local authorities lose £2 billion through fraud and error, with people wrongfully claiming housing tenancy, Blue Badges and council tax discounts, among other things.

Paul Rock, Counter Fraud Manager at Kent County Council said: “We are delighted to have been awarded £480,000 on behalf of all the local authorities in Kent, including Police and Fire.”

Mr Rock said that local authority information will be cross referenced with credit reference agencies and payroll departments.

He added: “We also plan to share more detailed information within councils about fraud and errors already detected so we can better target would-be fraudsters.” 

The Kent Intelligence Network will be up and running by autumn 2015.