Issue - meetings

Report of the Cabinet Member Corporate Services

RESOLVED THAT

1.    the financial arrangements for the Counter Fraud Project funding of £55,600 to cover the period from April 2015 to March 2020 be approved.

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services introduced the report which had been circulated with the agenda. He explained that in February 2015, Cabinet approved an evolutionary approach for the establishment of a Counter Fraud Team, to be managed by Audit Cotswolds.  This included the creation of a Counter Fraud Officer post within phase 1 of the project.

The 1 FTE post was to be funded by contributions from Cheltenham Borough Homes Ltd and some of the residual benefits administration grant for 2015/2016 with review to be undertaken during the financial year.

In addition, the Director of Resources was authorised to enter in to such documentation as necessary to enable the establishment of the Counter Fraud Team.  This included agreements with Cotswold District Council as the host authority for Audit Cotswolds and the successful DCLG Counter Fraud Bid.

The Cabinet Member was pleased to report that the project was progressing and referred to the achievements to date which were listed in Appendix 2.

He reported that the review of the Counter Fraud Officer post and the funding of the counter fraud project had been undertaken.

Members welcomed the report and recognised that as nationally and locally the risk of fraud was growing, measures to counter this needed to become more sophisticated. The amounts lost to fraud at the council were not insignificant so came at a great loss to the Council. They thanked the Cabinet Member Corporate Services and officers involved for the considerable work they were undertaking in this respect.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    the financial arrangements for the Counter Fraud Project funding of £55,600 to cover the period from April 2015 to March 2020 be approved.