Issue - meetings

To receive the Internal Audit Counter Fraud and Corruption Work report.

The Audit Manager presented the report summarising the counter fraud and corruption work undertaken by the Council’s Internal Audit section. Members were informed that the Counter Fraud Strategy and Policies were being updated and were currently being reviewed by the Corporate Management Team. These would be presented to the Committee at a future meeting.

Members were also informed of the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) whereby data matching exercises are coordinated by the Cabinet Office to identify potential fraud, error and overpayments. The Council participates in two NFI exercises: the annual Council Tax Single Person Discount exercise, and the main NFI exercise which takes place every two years.

In response to a Member question regarding the workings of the NFI exercise, the Audit Manager said information from over 1,200 organisations was submitted to the Cabinet Office, such as student loans, council tax and benefit records, which was then analysed with a view to detecting fraud. Individual organisations were then alerted to any cases in which potential fraud had been detected, and would be responsible for investigating and confirming whether real fraud had been committed. The Council was not obligated to investigate these matches, although it was considered necessary practice.

In response to a Member question regarding Council Tax Single Person Discount, the Audit Manager said it was the responsibility of the individual to ensure they were paying the correct council tax and not committing fraud inadvertently.

Councillor Light said only four cases of fraud and two cases of error were found from the 1274 potential fraud matches returned by the Cabinet Office. She asked whether a criteria was used to prioritise the investigation of these matches.

The Audit Manager said a risk assessment was used to narrow down the number of matches received. These would then be passed to service departments who were responsible for ascertaining whether fraud or errors had taken place.

In response to a Member request, the Audit Manager said she would find out the percentage of households in Uttlesford which claimed Council Tax Single Person Discount.

In response to a Member question, Mr Eagles said whilst auditors recognised the resource limitations faced by local authorities, high risk fraud should be investigated and was in line with best practice.