Issue - meetings

COUNTER FRAUD AND ENFORCEMENT TEAM UPDATE REPORT

Meeting: 25/11/2021 - Accounts and Audit Committee (Item 28)

28 COUNTER FRAUD AND ENFORCEMENT TEAM (CFT): 2020/21 ANNUAL REPORT pdf icon PDF 282 KB

To consider a report of the Counter Fraud & Litigation Manager.

Minutes:

The Counter Fraud & Litigation Managersubmitted and introduced a report which outlined the Council’s fraud prevention and detection performance and activities in 2020/21, and the CFT team’s plans for 2021/22.The report gave highlights of activity in key areas of the Team’s focus, including in relation to Council Tax and benefits, Non-Domestic-Rate Liability, Social Care Finance and Business Support Grant Irregularities. Members noted the significant volumes of additional income secured, and inappropriate expenditure averted, through these activities, and the Committee’s appreciation was passed on to the Team accordingly.

 

In discussion, Members noted the potential implications and costs of prosecuting fraudulent claims, and wished to explore the potential benefits, for income recovery and fraud deterrence, of imposing civil penalties in appropriate cases. It was agreed that the Executive be requested to give this issue further consideration, in the light of practice by other local authorities and any relevant national guidance.

 

            RESOLVED –

 

(1)       That the content of the report be noted.

 

(2)       That that the Executive be requested to give further consideration to the potential benefits of imposing civil penalties in appropriate cases, in the light of practice by other local authorities and any relevant national guidance.