Doncaster Council employee given "caution" after £1,033 fraud, South Yorkshire Police confirm

The Local Democracy Reporting Service previously revealed an internal investigation had taken place in June/July 2024 after a manager noticed refunds had been issued “for services that were never commissioned”.

A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson informed the LDRS: “On 6 September 2024, we received a report of fraud in Doncaster. It was reported that a woman had defrauded Doncaster Council of £1,033.

“On 27 January a 42-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation.

“Following an investigation, she was given a caution and the incident has since been filed.”

The annual report of the head of internal audit, presented to the Council’s audit committee last week, said £1,033 worth of payments were “fraudulently submitted by the employee”.

Debbie Hogg, executive director of corporate resources, said in a statement: “Although we don’t go into details of individual cases, we are keen to stress that incidences such as these are very rare as a result of the robust arrangements we have in place for preventing and detecting fraud.

“The member of staff in question is no longer an employee of City of Doncaster Council.”

During the meeting of the audit committee on April 24, 2025, Councillor Iris Beech asked council officers what, if anything, could be done differently to prevent this happening again in the future.

Ms Hogg told her: “It’s going to be inevitable that if somebody is minded [to commit fraud], they will find a way.

“It is subsequently picked up and worked through… We’re never going to eradicate everything. It’s just impossible.”

Mr Jackson said by discovering the fraud and reporting it, the management processes “worked in that sense”.

He added: “[The audit team] did a very comprehensive bit of work. This was a very isolated incident.”