Agenda item

To receive the 2024/25 Anti-Fraud & Corruption Annual Report and Policy.

The Audit, Governance & Procurement Lead Manager presented the Corporate Anti-Fraud & Corruption - 2024/25 Annual Report which detailed the activity which had taken place and set out the Policy which required approval.

The Annual Report and associated policy supported a key element of good corporate governance – Standards of Conduct and ensured those aims associated with it maintained the high standards of ethics and conduct in public life. 

The report contained information in relation to counter fraud and investigation activities within the borough during the 2024/25, undertaken by the Investigation Team along with Internal Audit, IDT Services and the work that other enforcement teams completed in tackling specific types of fraud.  The outcome of the work had returned money to the Council or had ensured future spend had been stopped in the sum of £305,000 which demonstrated the value of preventative activities to stop fraud. 

For Member information, there were currently two live investigations that were being looked at regionally due to their scale and complexity, but that the majority of cases were handled internally.

The Anti-fraud and Corruption Policy required approval every two years in order to retain the standards and help limit fraud and corruption.

During the debate, Members welcomed the report and asked if the Council had been involved in any covid fraud investigations locally.  It was also asked if single occupancy council tax discount claims were a big issue, where claimants were found not to be living alone.  How much work went into reclaiming low value fraud and how did the Council claim back its resource and what proportion did it receive.

The Audit, Governance & Procurement Lead Manager confirmed that in relation to covid fraud, the Council were involved in emergency measures initially when grants were given out.  The team has been involved with investigating a small number of suspected frauds.  There was currently nothing in the work programme as this work would now be taken up centrally by the government.  In relation to single occupancy, value was not a huge issue, many claims were relatively small and not material for accountancy purposes.  They did, however, take up a lot of resource and the Team regularly looked at ways to reduce this through proven processes.  Where fraud took place, a vetting process was undertaken to confirm what size was the fraud, how strong was the information and how likely it was to be successful.

The Director: Policy & Governance informed Members that there was initially limited guidance for the authority in relation to Covid grants and the Council was really clear that processes needed to be in place from the start.  By being proactive, a number of transactions were prevented from being paid and where investigations took place the Council acted quickly in getting payments returned or preventing payments being made.  Any current frauds were being dealt with nationally.  In relation to single occupancy, not everything was fraud, but it did take a lot of time having to track back through records and it was often an initial genuine claim but at a particular point a failure to notify change in circumstances.  The Fraud Team was small, and resources needed to be used efficiently in order to look after the public purse.  The Council needed to remain proactive whilst balancing prosecutions ethically and within policy, directing resources where they were needed.  National initiatives such as data matching with the DWP and fraud initiatives helped deliver and direct the resources.

Upon being put to the vote it was, unanimously:

RESOLVED – that:

a)    the 2024/25 Annual Report on corporate anti-fraud and corruption activity be noted; and

b)   the Anti-Fraud & Corruption Policy be approved.