Agenda item

The Chief Internal Auditor to submit a report providing the Committee with a new Counter Fraud and Corruption Policy for review and approval.

Rachel Ashley-Caunt, Chief Internal Auditor introduced the report, the purpose of which was to provide the Committee with a new Counter Fraud and Corruption Policy for review and approval.

Ms Ashley-Caunt highlighted that the new Policy was based on the latest national guidance, CIPFA guidance and Fighting Fraud and Corruption Locally guidance.  It detailed:

·       Embedding a culture of zero tolerance within the Council, how to best use resources to detect and prevent fraud and how to respond if concerns are raised.

·       Formalising good practices already in place, documenting these and making ensuring clear communication of the counter fraud strategic approach.

·       Section 1.3 (Fraud Risks) had been added to alert to the types of risks the Council may encounter, which informed the Council’s risk management approach.

·       The Council was part of the National Fraud Initiative, which was run by the Cabinet Office and undertook additional proactive work (social housing fraud, data matching etc).

Ms Ashley-Caunt confirmed that the Council had participated in Fraud Awareness Week during November and had held an ethical governance session with all staff.  Should the Policy be approved, all staff would receive Fraud Awareness training. 

During discussion the following points were noted:

·       Ms Ashley-Caunt confirmed that she and her Counter Fraud Team covered a number of local authorities.  She had much experience of fraud investigations across various organisations and this was 1 of her areas of interest.  This knowledge and experience was shared with the Council’s Senior Management Team and staff during training sessions’.

·       Internal Audit were registered to receive ‘fraud alerts’ and these alerts were shared with the Council when relevant.

·       There was discussion on whether the objective and outcome at section 1.2 of the Policy was appropriate.  Members commented that ‘and maintain that level’ was not necessary, as no target had been set for the reduction of fraud and corruption.  Ms Ashley-Caunt commented that the aim was to reduce fraud and corruption as much as possible and to ensure the level achieved did not increase.

·       It was proposed to amend the objective and outcome ‘reduce fraud and corruption losses within the Council to an absolute minimum and maintain that level’ to read ‘reduce fraud and corruption losses within the Council to an absolute minimum’.

·       Members requested that documents containing indexes such as this Policy also have page numbers added for ease of reference.

·       There was discussion on the mediums in place for staff and the public to report fraud.  The advantages and disadvantages of central and named email accounts were considered.

·       Central email accounts were independent of the Council.  They were used at all local authorities covered by Internal Audit and were found to be working well, with a number of referrals received (particularly on council tax and business rates).

·       Members were assured that Customer Services staff knew how to deal with in person or telephone referrals (i.e. by emailing the central email address).

·       Staff were able to raise concerns with managers if they wished to do so.  Managers would then email the central email address.

·       It was noted that the Whistleblowing Policy named officers who staff could raise concerns with.

Members voted unanimously to amend the objective and outcome stated at section 1.2 of the Policy, to read ‘reduce fraud and corruption losses within the Council to an absolute minimum’.

RESOLVED that the Committee APPROVE the Counter Fraud and Corruption Policy, as amended.