Agenda item

The Head of Counter Fraud summarised the draft Counter Fraud Strategic Plan for 2021/22 highlighting some key points including a strategic aim to deliver a financial savings target of £1.5m. This was deemed reasonable considering the climate. Officers outlined the ways in which they look to develop and maintain the effectiveness of the Counter Fraud Service.

One of the key aims of the plan was to embed a strong culture of fraud awareness within management and to provide a robust understanding of what’s required in order to prevent fraud. Work would also be done with internal audit and risk departments on the governance arrangements for counter fraud; to this end a quarterly liaison meeting between these service areas was being established to ensure that planning will be collectively structured. Members noted that this would be a good opportunity to share best practice amongst service areas.

Officers summarised Appendix A to the draft Strategic Plan which outlined the summary of fraud risk areas including Procurement, Social Housing, Revenue Collection, Social Care and Maintained Schools. This fed into the Counter Fraud Team’s Operational Work Plan (Appendix B to the draft Strategic Plan), of which key points were summarised including a continued focus on tenancy fraud and housing investigations; this would see the BACFT conducting a housing key fob data review utilising Council data to identify any sub-letting or non-occupation of properties. A new Housing Key Amnesty project was outlined in which Council tenants and those in emergency accommodation would be able to surrender their tenancies during an amnesty period whereby no action would be taken with regard to housing fraud. Members were also informed of a programme of fraud awareness training to be delivered to maintained schools in the Borough, focussing on potential fraud risks and building a robust control environment.

The Committee queried the prospect of having investigation targets within each of the headings; it was noted that upon commencement of investigations, the duration would be largely unknown and it was difficult to judge the length of an investigation from the outset, this posed a challenge in setting annual targets. Officers agreed it would be useful to have an idea of the volume of work that could be expected in any given area rather than setting outright targets of what will be done.

With regard to the lines of communication available to residents as a means of raising concerns about fraud and corruption, the Committee were keen to see this aspect advertised to residents. Officers noted that there was proactive work that could be done in this area but it would be important to balance dedicating resources to maximum effect; it was highlighted that the fraud hotline and fraud email address were already being pushed through the Council’s social media channels as well as the Council’s website.

The Committee were encouraged by planned work with maintained schools and the development of a toolkit to aid in promoting fraud awareness within school structures. With regard to the key amnesty, Members queried whether officers had seen evidence of similar schemes working in other boroughs. Officers noted that other boroughs had been adopting similar schemes and it was deemed an effective tool for the recovery of properties with reduced effort on the Council’s part; it was highlighted that even if uptake was lower than expected, the scheme would not have been too resource intensive and therefore the potential benefits of such a scheme would outweigh any negatives should the scheme not be successful.

RESOLVED that the Audit Committee:

1)   Noted the Draft Counter Fraud Strategic Plan for 2021/22;

2)   Noted the Counter Fraud Team Operational Work Plan for 2021/22; and

3)   Commented on the Draft Counter Fraud Strategic Plan 2021/22 and the Counter Fraud Team Operational Work Plan 2021/22.