Guidance on Interviews under Caution

Aberdeen City Council is committed to ensuring that it awards the correct amount of benefit only to those people genuinely entitled to it. In doing so, the Council is also committed to protecting public funds through its actions on benefit fraud.

Aberdeen City Council will invite people to attend an interview under caution when there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence relating to a claim for benefit has been committed. This does not mean that the Council believes that you are guilty of a criminal offence; it simply means that evidence has been gathered that suggests irregularities with your claim.

The interview you are being asked to attend gives you the opportunity to provide an explanation for the irregularities which have been identified. Please note, however that if, during the course of the interview, evidence emerges that suggests you have committed a criminal offence, the Council will consider appropriate sanctions, including a possible prosecution.

In order to protect your rights, the interview will be recorded on compact disk.

Do I have to attend an interview?

No, you do not have to attend. However, if you do not and are still in receipt of benefit, those benefits may be suspended.

If you are no longer in receipt of benefit and you chose not to attend an interview, the Council may refer the case to the Procurator Fiscal who, in turn, may instruct the Police to make contact with you.

Who can come to the interview with me?

Anyone who is not connected with the investigation can attend the interview with you. The person could be a friend, a social worker, a relative or solicitor. If the interviewing officer believes the person is connected with the enquiry, they may be asked to leave.

Who will interview me?

You will usually be interviewed by two officers of the Council's Benefit Investigation Team who have been trained to conduct these interviews.

Sometimes the Council will conduct joint investigations with the Department for Work & Pensions. If this is the case, it will be made clear to you at the beginning of the interview.

What happens at the interview?

When you enter the room, the lead officer will introduce the officers who will be conducting the interview and explain the format of the interview. Two compact disks will be unsealed from their packaging in front of you and will be placed in the audio recorder. When the recorder is switched on, an alarm will sound until the machine is ready to start recording.

Before you are asked any questions the Council's officer's will:

• Identify themselves for the purpose of the recording
• Ask you to state your name, date of birth and address
• If you have brought a witness they will be asked for their name and their relationship to you (friend, partner etc)
• You will be asked some questions to confirm that the CD's were new, who is present in the room and that the case was not discussed prior to the audio equipment being switched on
• You will then be advised of your legal rights

You will then be asked questions about your claim to benefit. The officers are not bound to accept the first answer you give but are under a duty to try to establish the truth about what has happened.

At the end of the interview you will be asked to sign a seal which will be placed around one of the compact disks. If your case is submitted to the Procurator Fiscal this CD will be form part of the evidence and will be unsealed by them. The unsealed CD may be reviewed by Council's sanction team.

Can I receive a copy of the transcript of the interview or the CD?

You are being interviewed as the Council believes that you have committed a criminal offence and this interview forms part of the investigation. If the Council decides to send your case to the Procurator Fiscal, and they accept it, your legal representative will receive a copy of the transcript.

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