A PIONEERING team set up in Oxford to tackle fraud “with a vengeance” has saved taxpayers more than £1.6m in five months.

Oxford City Council said its single fraud investigation service was so successful it paid for itself in its first month.

Its specialist investigators have been hailed by councillors as “extremely effective” and are now set to expand what they do.

The team is set to join with other authorities to crack down on fraud across Oxfordshire, a report to the city council’s audit and governance committee said.

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City council deputy leader Ed Turner, also executive board member for finance, said: “Sadly there are people who attempt to defraud their communities and the taxpayer, but in Oxford they stand a very high chance of being caught, convicted and punished.

“Our team is tough, tenacious and goes after any suspicious activity or fraud with a vengeance.

“More people are getting banged to rights because they are being detected by this extremely effective service.”

The fraud team was set up after the investigation of housing benefit fraud was moved to central Government.

When this happened, city council officers pitched the idea to focus on other instances of fraud, including council tax, council tax support, business rates, Right to Buy and property.

According to the city council report, the overall cost of the team is £220,370 for 2015/16 and it is tasked with making up that amount as a minimum target.

Investigations manager Scott Warner said the investigations team played a key role in not only recovering money but also deterring fraudsters.

So far it has recovered £482,806 of income lost through fraud and prevented a further £1,158,507 of losses by detecting them before they took place.

The biggest saving was £856,900 through investigations into 11 Right To Buy applications.

The team also appeared on Council House Crackdown in July, a BBC documentary about council investigators.

The new Oxford Fraud Hub, a joint scheme with other councils, could launch in December.

Mr Warner wrote: “The development of hub arrangements are now firmly under way.”

The hub will detect council tax fraud and business rates fraud, as well as right-to-buy fraud, tenancy fraud and illegally sub-letting social housing.

Authorities taking part include the city and county councils, West Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire district councils. Its £488,000 funding is from Government.