Meeting documents

To consider this report.

The Chair invited the Strategic Manager for Finance Systems and Governance, to introduce the Anti-Fraud and Corruption review report that provided information following the annual review of all the measures being undertaken across the Council aimed at prevention, detection and reporting of fraud and corruption.

Members noted that anti-fraud and corruption work formed an important part of the Council’s corporate governance and internal control framework. Working with colleagues from the South West Audit Partnership (SWAP) Officers had made a comparison of the Council’s systems and processes against typical fraud target areas and reviewed them against national trends and guidance.

It was noted that the report contained the conclusion of the review and this judged that the Council had a sound framework in place, although more could be done to continue to raise awareness. There had been a small number of fraud allegations, some leading to more formal investigations from SWAP, and it was suggested that such incidents should be considered when the Committee set the Internal Audit Plan for 2021/2022.

Mr Bryant highlighted the appendices attached to his report, Appendix A, the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy and Appendix B the Anti-Bribery and Appendix C the Anti-Money Laundering Policy. The report also provided, at Appendix D, the Anti-Tax evasion policy that remained unchanged. Members also noted Appendix E that contained details of 6 suspected instances of fraud (all closed) that had been investigated during 2020 and the case notes provided a non-specific overview of each case.

There was a brief discussion that included:

There was a question about insurance about potential losses due to fraud and it was noted that one of the examples provided in Appendix E that had led to an £11K loss had been due to control failings and he undertook to investigate if the Council was insured against cyber fraud.

It was asked if findings relating to fraud would be reported to the Constitution and Standards Committee and the Director of Finance noted that oversight and prevention of fraud was in the remit of the Audit Committee and the on-going review of the Whistleblowing policy would determine that how details would be shared with elected members.

There was a question about the transparency code and if the Council was meeting the spirit of the code regarding the accessibility and quality of data it held and the Strategic Manager noted that a corrupted file had now be corrected and the Director of Finance had instructed officers to undertake a review so that grants available to the voluntary and community sector could be easily located and associated information was accessible. The Chair indicated he would discuss this with the Director of Finance who indicated he was committed to ensuring the information held by the Council was clear and easily accessible to the public.

In summary the Committee noted that the review had provided assurance, and Members re-confirmed that the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy, Anti-Bribery Policy and Anti-Money Laundering Policy, were fit for purpose. Members thanked officers for their work and noted their continued support for a zero-tolerance policy regarding fraud.

The Committee agreed the Anti-Fraud and Corruption policy, the Anti-Bribery policy, the Anti-Money Laundering policy and the Anti-Tax evasion policy.

The Chair invited the Strategic Manager for Finance Systems and Governance, to introduce the Anti-Fraud and Corruption review report that provided information following the annual review of all the measures being undertaken across the Council aimed at prevention, detection and reporting of fraud and corruption.

Members noted that anti-fraud and corruption work formed an important part of the Council’s corporate governance and internal control framework. Working with colleagues from the South West Audit Partnership (SWAP) Officers had made a comparison of the Council’s systems and processes against typical fraud target areas and reviewed them against national trends and guidance.

It was noted that the report contained the conclusion of the review and this judged that the Council had a sound framework in place, although more could be done to continue to raise awareness. There had been a small number of fraud allegations, some leading to more formal investigations from SWAP, and it was suggested that such incidents should be considered when the Committee set the Internal Audit Plan for 2021/2022.

Mr Bryant highlighted the appendices attached to his report, Appendix A, the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy and Appendix B the Anti-Bribery and Appendix C the Anti-Money Laundering Policy. The report also provided, at Appendix D, the Anti-Tax evasion policy that remained unchanged. Members also noted Appendix E that contained details of 6 suspected instances of fraud (all closed) that had been investigated during 2020 and the case notes provided a non-specific overview of each case.

There was a brief discussion that included:

There was a question about insurance about potential losses due to fraud and it was noted that one of the examples provided in Appendix E that had led to an £11K loss had been due to control failings and he undertook to investigate if the Council was insured against cyber fraud.

It was asked if findings relating to fraud would be reported to the Constitution and Standards Committee and the Director of Finance noted that oversight and prevention of fraud was in the remit of the Audit Committee and the on-going review of the Whistleblowing policy would determine that how details would be shared with elected members.

There was a question about the transparency code and if the Council was meeting the spirit of the code regarding the accessibility and quality of data it held and the Strategic Manager noted that a corrupted file had now be corrected and the Director of Finance had instructed officers to undertake a review so that grants available to the voluntary and community sector could be easily located and associated information was accessible. The Chair indicated he would discuss this with the Director of Finance who indicated he was committed to ensuring the information held by the Council was clear and easily accessible to the public.

In summary the Committee noted that the review had provided assurance, and Members re-confirmed that the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy, Anti-Bribery Policy and Anti-Money Laundering Policy, were fit for purpose. Members thanked officers for their work and noted their continued support for a zero-tolerance policy regarding fraud.

The Committee agreed the Anti-Fraud and Corruption policy, the Anti-Bribery policy, the Anti-Money Laundering policy and the Anti-Tax evasion policy.