Simon Maddocks, Director of Governance, introduced the anti-fraud report for the period 1 April 2016 to 31 January 2017 and informed the Committee that the figure of successful outcomes had risen to 118 and £1,025,000 of savings and overpayments identified.
The majority of the work undertaken by the Anti-Fraud team had been reactive, however the introduction of the London Fraud Hub would enable more pro-active work to be undertaken.
Work had been undertaken to produce an E-learning module for council staff members and publicity had continued. The review of the Anti-Fraud service had been positive with only four recommendations made.
In response to Member questions the Director of Governance stated that the team had circulated newsletters and run courses, however it was difficult to assess the level of engagement with the newsletter. The E-learning module was anticipated to help the service assess who was accessing it and enable officers to encourage those who would come across fraud most to complete the course.
Work was still ongoing with the NHS, however work had had to be completed with regards to data protection before it could proceed. Data matching wold be undertaken with the National Fraud Initiative in July 2017.
The Committee congratulated officers on their work and their persistence, in particular in regards to the case that was shown in the BBC series Britain on the Fiddle'. Members queried the how a recovered property would have the value of £18,000 and were informed that he value was a standard value which had been provided by the Audit Office and related to the cost associated to housing another resident temporarily who could have resided in that property.
Referrals of fraudulent activity were received via officers or the teams who dealt with the payments and undertook monitoring of the residents. For Blue Badges, referrals were also received from Parking Enforcement Officers. The Director of Governance informed the Committee that concerns of fraudulent claims that involved safeguarding were often received through two means. The Chair suggested that concerns of safeguarding and opportunities for vulnerable adults to be used for fraud should be raised and further suggested that the Member request the issue be reviewed by the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee.
The Director of Governance stated that additional resources would enable the service to raise awareness of the work and would lead to more referrals, however an assessment would need to be made to ensure resources were being utilised appropriately and value for money was achieved. It was felt that there was sufficient resource to hit the targets.
The Committee noted that there were a number of phone numbers for people to call if there were concerns. The Director of Governance stated that only two of the numbers were council numbers and were answered by experienced staff who asked the appropriate questions. All referrals were assessed by an Intelligence Officer who judged whether an investigation was necessary. Each investigator worked on around 40 cases at a time and all cases were reviewed by the manager of the Fraud Team on a six weekly basis and would advise on the action to take.
The Director of Governance informed the Committee that the mix of cases was typical for a London Borough, however it was not possible to compare the volume of cases as boroughs recorded the figures differently. It was stated that the London Fraud Hub would assist in providing comparative data as the council's would work in similar ways.
RESOLVED: That
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The Anti-fraud activity of the Corporate Anti-Fraud team for the period 1 April 2016 - 31 January 2017 be noted;
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The pro-active anti-fraud plan of work for 2017/18 be approved; and
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The London Borough of Croydon Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy be approved.