Case Study: Stratford on Avon District Council achieves faster, safer fraud investigations and reduced site visits with Ordnance Survey mapping

Stratford on Avon District Council - Customer Case Study

Stratford-on-Avon District Council’s fraud investigation team was facing rising case volumes and shrinking resources while needing to recover council tax and housing benefit overpayments and reduce fraudulent claims. To help triage and target investigations the council used Ordnance Survey mapping (PSMA data including OS MasterMap Topography Layer, OS Street View, 1:10 000 and 1:50 000 rasters and the Unique Property Reference Number) to give precise property location and geographic context without immediate site visits.

Ordnance Survey maps and desktop analysis were used to produce property-level maps and assess suitability for surveillance, letting officers make quick, informed decisions from the office. The change cut almost a day’s work each week, enabled six investigations per week to be analysed in about five minutes each (instead of up to an hour’s drive), reduced fuel costs and emissions, and lowered the risk of compromising staff — improving efficiency and targeting across the team.

Stratford on Avon District Council

Neil Shadbolt

Counter Fraud Officer