Agenda item

REPORT OF THE SHARED ANTI-FRAUD SERVICE (SAFS)

To review the progress and delivery of the Anti-Fraud plan 2024-25.

RESOLVED: That the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee noted the progress by Officers and the Shared Anti-Fraud Service to deliver the Anti-Fraud Plan for the Council.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 9 seconds

The Counter Fraud Manager presented the report entitled ‘SAFS Anti Fraud Update 2024-25’ and highlighted that:

·       The report detailed the current work activity and the half yearly performance KPIs.

·       There had been 22 fraud alerts and additional generic fraud reports.

·       Seven specialised training sessions had taken place with more sessions planned for quarter 3.

·       There had been 56 allegations of fraud received, related to housing, Council Tax. procurement and parking services. 37 of these allegations were under investigation and 18 had reached a referral stage. The combined losses for these allegations was £242K.

·       Seven cases had been closed with £7K of identified losses and £13K of savings.

·       Identified losses had the potential to be recovered, whereas savings were considered as money that could have been lost if the fraud had continued.

·       One case had been referred to the Legal Team to consider prosecution and one case resulted in a ‘cease and desist’ notice being issued.

·       There were six tenancy cases being investigated and a property had been recovered.

·       A review of 18 Council Tax fraud cases had identified £10K of losses.

·       The results from the National Fraud Initiative were now due on the 20 December 2024 instead of January and resources had been reallocated to facilitate the data results.

·       The Herts Fraudhub had identified 800 records for review, with a small amount of fraud discrepancies already actioned.

·       There had been a new Council Tax Framework contract for 2025/26.

·       Work was ongoing with a Tri County Blue Badge prevention initiative, and a memorandum of understanding was expected to support the prevention and misuse of Blue Badges.

·       There was still an outstanding software issue with identifying urgent cases however, all cases had been processed within the urgent case timeframe.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Ruth Brown

·       Councillor Paul Ward

·       Councillor Vijaiya Poopalasingham

·       Independent Member John Cannon

In response to questions, the Counter Fraud Manager advised that:

·       The case management software provider had now confirmed that the system was unable to report on the processing of urgent cases. It was anticipated that this KPI would be changed for next year.

·       SAFs were ahead of target in delivering the required 267 days, the amber of KPI 2 was due to being part way through the civic year.

·       Due to pending legal action the details of the two housing cases were currently confidential however, details could be sent outside of this meeting.

·       Blue Badge parking was highly sought after and in certain parts of the country badges could be sold for a high price, leading to losses and misuse. In the summer the Civil Enforcement team, County Council and the Police worked together in a joint operation reviewing targeted areas for Blue Badge fraud. As a result of this operation a memorandum of understanding was being developed and it was hoped that this would become an annual exercise.

·       Organised fraud groups were targeting companies with mandate frauds, which were becoming more sophisticated and looked genuine as they included email chains from suppliers. SAFs were advising that any change of bank account request were independently verified.

In response to a question, the Head of Assurance advised that the KPI colour coding was an ongoing issue and there were ongoing discussions around this matter.

Councillor Ruth Brown proposed and Councillor Stewart Willoughby seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee noted the progress by Officers and the Shared Anti-Fraud Service to deliver the Anti-Fraud Plan for the Council.