Agenda item

To consider the findings of the Local Government Counter Fraud and Corruption Strategy 2016-2019.

Mrs T. Greenhalgh, presented the Committee with the newly released Local Government Counter Fraud and Corruption Strategy 2016-2019. The purpose of the document was to outline the direction that the service was going and to identify a number of challenges, which included:

·         The significant fraud losses which occur in local authorities.

·         The reputational damage fraud had on local authorities.

·         The fact that fraudsters were constantly revising and sharpening their techniques and the need for local authorities to adapt to meet these challenges.

·         The need to tackle cross-boundary and organised fraud and corruption attempts as well as addressing new risks.

·         The changing public sector landscape including budget reductions, service remodelling and integration and government policy changes.

·         Barriers to tackling fraud effectively including incentives, information sharing and powers.

In order to meet the challenges, there was a requirement for local authorities to continue to develop the following principles:

·         Acknowledge fraud risks exist.

·         Prevent and detect more fraud.

·         Pursue by punishing fraudsters and recovering losses.

Mrs Greenhalgh responded to a number of questions from the Committee on the contents of the document. Asked about how the profile of fraud risk was being raised amongst staff and what rewards or praise existed for staff discovering fraud, Mrs Greenhalgh explained about the Council’s Whistle blowing Policy and the Fraud Referral Policy. She explained that the majority of staff who exposed any sort of fraud would not want any sort of publicity from it and would prefer to remain anonymous.

Asked about what checks were in place against malicious reporting, Mrs Greenhalgh explained that fact finding checks were always undertaken and appropriate action taken against anyone who made malicious reports.

The Committee discussed the possibility of error being mistaken for fraud. Mrs Greenhalgh confirmed that the possibility of error was always considered and investigated appropriately.

On the subject of staff training, the Committee was informed about the fraud awareness ipool course and the face to face training that took place in high risk areas. In relation to elected member training and specific training for Audit Committee Members, Mrs Greenhalgh explained she would consider further and would be happy to offer training if there was a willingness amongst Members.

The Committee made reference to the financial incentives that had been made available to local authorities for anti-fraud measures as detailed in the Strategy. Mrs Greenhalgh confirmed that Blackpool had placed a bid for funding but unfortunately was not successful and further feedback was not available.

Mrs Greenhalgh was asked whether any of the recommendations for local authorities, contained with the Delivery Plan section of the report, stood out in particular. She confirmed that the Council was already working on a number of the recommendations but needed to improve on anti-fraud measurement. She stressed however the importance of this taking place in partnership with other authorities. She added that a consistent baseline measurement methodology would be very helpful.

The Committee thanked Mrs Greenhalgh for her attendance and agreed the following:

1.         To note the report.

2.         To request that Democratic Governance liaise with Internal Audit on the subject of anti-fraud training for elected members and to encourage the take up of any offer.

Background papers: None.