Agenda item

Report of Emma Cathcart, Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit

The Head of Service, Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit (CFEU) introduced her report, which provided the usual update on work being undertaken by her team.  She outlined that the appendix now included some further detail relating to the work plan items but that specific updates were still included with more detail within the report.  She highlighted that the work on business grant schemes was almost complete, with the DBT sending through paperwork to show that any outstanding debt liability was being transferred to them. 

Her team has been working to complete the National Fraud Initiative matches relating to Single Person Discount anomalies, and in addition were also undertaking extra proactive reviews with the revenues team.   She said the usual update regarding RIPA and IPA would be provided in the April report, but confirmed that the council had been the subject of an inspection by IPCO - all policies and processes were checked and deemed compliant.

She ended by sharing with Members the positive news that Stroud District Council will be joining the partnership; this will be beneficial and allow authorities across the county to share good practice. 

The Executive Director of Finance and Assets noted that the last time the business grants scheme was mentioned, it was reported in the media in a negative light, highlighting that £36,334 had not been repaid. He pointed out that this represented 0.067% of the £50m paid out by the council, which he considered an awesome statistic and a level of performance which a significant number of councils were nowhere near achieving.

A Member welcomed the report, thanked the team for their hard work, and commented on the following:

-       £129k in loss avoidance regarding the housing waiting lists, which was not just a financial benefit, but also making a difference to people who need priority housing;

-       the work being done by public protection to protect people from unlawful evictions, which didn’t result in particularly big fines but in quite considerable costs which put the cost of the work in perspective;

-       the welcome £9k in council tax revenue, including two criminal penalties and one civil penalty.  This serves as a reminder of what the council is doing to successfully detect fraud, and he hopes this can be widely publicised as a warning to others.

Another Member echoed these comments, saying it was scary to read about the many ways in which the council can potentially be defrauded. 

In response to Members’ questions, the Head of Service, CFEU confirmed that:

-       the governance group is an officer group which meets to discuss general risk governance, and any particular matters of concern are raised at that group;

-       the CFEU has a number of agreements with different bodies, including banks,  to obtain and share information for evidence purposes;

-       the council also works with the MAAF group, including the police, trading standards, and the NHS, to bring about a more cohesive approach to combatting fraud which is the most prevalent crime in the UK.  Financial institutions linked to the group and carry out a lot of work to safeguard people, share best practice and inform the public.  With the risks ever changing, and new scams and frauds emerging all the time, the MAAF groups bring bodies together nationally to work in a joined-up way and thus better tackle and prevent fraud activity – as prevention is better than trying to get money back once it’s gone.

Members were happy to note the report.