Leeds goes digital to beat benefit fraudsters

New system will help process recordings faster

Leeds City Council is using a digitised fraud transcription service to help improve the way it gathers evidence about benefit fraudsters.

Neil Platts, Leeds’ investigations manager, says his team used to post tapes of interviews with benefit fraud suspects to service provider Capita Contact & Document Services (CDS) for transcription, a process which was both expensive and time- consuming.

‘The system we used was cumbersome. We had to spend time packaging up tapes and arranging for them to be sent by recorded delivery,’ he said.

‘Under the new digital system, recordings are sent via email to be transcribed, then sent back with the original file and a copy of the transcription in a Word file.’

Platts says the new digital system - also provided by Capita - has improved departmental record-keeping.

‘You can keep better tabs on all of the records because they are logged and organised in the computer,’ he said.

‘We can get records transcribed in about 24 hours, meaning we can assess them quicker and decide whether or not to give a formal caution, a penalty fine or transfer the matter to our legal department.’