Issue - meetings

Report of the Executive Director – Corporate Services and Commercial

The Cabinet considered the report of the Executive Director – Corporate Services and Commercial indicating that the Council had carried out a self-assessment against the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) publication “Code of Practice on Managing the Risk of Fraud and Corruption” which consisted of five principles:

·       Acknowledge the responsibility of the governing body for countering fraud and corruption.

·       Identify the fraud and corruption risks.

·       Develop an appropriate counter fraud and corruption strategy.

·       Provide resources to implement the strategy.

·       Take action in response to fraud and corruption.

One of the proposed actions that the Council was recommended to undertake was the development of a Counter Fraud Strategy.

The report indicated that CIFAS, a not-for-profit organisation fighting fraud across the public and private sector, had also provided guidance on how to address fraud risks in the publication “Fighting Fraud and Corruption Locally 2020 is the updated counter fraud and corruption strategy for local government”. The model outlined in the publication was based on five principles, as detailed below, and broadly aligned to the CIPFA model, and had been widely used across the Local Government sector:

·       Govern

·       Acknowledge

·       Prevent

·       Pursue

·       Protecting itself and residents

The report further indicated that the proposed strategy was based on the CIFAS five pillars and included roles and responsibilities as well as key priorities for the next three years. An action plan had been developed based on the key priorities. The Council had made some progress on implementing actions to improve the Council’s counter fraud approach which would be enhanced with the actions from the proposed Counter Fraud Strategy.

The following appendix was attached to the report:

·       Counter Fraud Strategy

Decisions Made:

That

(1)      the proposed Counter Fraud Strategy and the responsibilities detailed in the document be approved; and

(2)      the progress on implementation of proposed counter fraud actions to date be noted.

Reasons for the Decisions:

The Council had carried out a self-assessment against the CIPFA Code of Practice on Managing the Risk of Fraud and Corruption. One of the proposed actions that the Council should undertake was the development of a Counter Fraud Strategy which was presented for approval.

The Council had made some progress on implementing actions to improve the Council’s counter fraud approach which would be enhanced with the actions from the proposed Counter Fraud Strategy.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

Not having a Counter Fraud Strategy was one option considered and rejected as the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) had provided guidance to the public sector and failure to follow would likely lead to loss of reputation for the Council.