More than £55m of fraud and overpayments have been uncovered by the Audit Commission's National Fraud Initiative (NFI).

The NFI has helped detect £111m in public sector fraud during 2004/5, including £55m for councils. The scheme helps councils and other public bodies target fraud by looking at various records and comparing who is claiming pensions, housing benefits and other entitlements. The information is then passed back to the respective authorities who can then prosecute.