Issue - meetings

Report of Cabinet Member Finance and Assets, Councillor Peter Jeffries

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    the Council Tax, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support Penalty and Prosecution Policy is adopted;

2.    authority is delegated to the Executive Director Finance, Assets and Regeneration to approve future minor amendments to the Policy in consultation with the Head of Revenues and Benefits and the Head of Service Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit.     

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets introduced the report, saying that CBC is a member of the counter-fraud partnership, and within the partnership the Counter-Fraud and Enforcement Unit is tasked with reviewing policies on the council’s behalf and providing the necessary framework to deal with fraud and error in this area. Dealing with and handling public money comes with level of trust, with the risk of fraud ever present, and it is incumbent on the council to take actions to mitigate against the risks, something CBC takes extremely seriously.  A number of minor changes have been made to the previous policy to align with current legislation, a number of amendments included to reflect the duties and responsibilities of the Department of Work and Pensions and to provide continuity across the counter-fraud partnership to undertake investigations in this area.

The report and policy has been considered and endorsed by the Audit, Compliance and Governance Committee, and several relevant council departments and OneLegal have been consulted. He thanked Emma Cathcart and her team, and commended the report to Members.

The Cabinet Member for Housing said it is important to have this policy in place - ultimately, it is protecting public money and ensuring it can be used to support those people who really need it.

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    the Council Tax, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support Penalty and Prosecution Policy is adopted;

2.    authority is delegated to the Executive Director Finance, Assets and Regeneration to approve future minor amendments to the Policy in consultation with the Head of Revenues and Benefits and the Head of Service Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit.