Social worker’s taxi fiddle

A social worker who lied about taking taxis to work to fraudulently claim more than £4,000 was suspended for two years yesterday.

Michael Wrenn (62), filled in blank cab receipts while he was case manager in the youth offending service at Oldham Council.

But for nearly two years Wrenn, who lives in Macclesfield, was driven to work by a friend and was paying nothing for his travel, the General Social Care Council (GSCC) heard.

He submitted the claims for £4,365 to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as part of their Access to Work scheme between December, 2004, and October, 2006.

Peter Steel for the GSCC said: ‘Mr Wrenn is entitled under the Access to Work scheme to claim a financial contribution to the cost of travel to and from work.

“But an overpayment of these claims were made to Mr Wrenn for exaggerating taxi journeys paid and claiming for taxis when he had travelled to work in a friend’s car.”

In June last year Wrenn admitted 16 charges of false accounting at Chester Crown Court and asked for a further 10 charges to lie on file, and was given a two-year conditional discharge.

Wrenn was sacked from Oldham Council, Mr Steel told the London hearing.