Agenda item

(Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee) To receive a report from the Audit and Governance Committee recommending that the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy be approved.

Councillor I Hadley, Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee

Councillor I Hadley advised that the Audit and Governance Committee, at its meeting on the 23 November 2021, reviewed and referred the revised Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy to the Council for approval.

He stated that this was a very robust strategy and pointed out the four amendments which were made:

·         HR related fraud – such as false information on job applications, bogus qualifications / references, failing to declare previous convictions etc; (Appendix A page 50 of the Agenda)

·         In cases where the offence is deliberate and serious enough to warrant prosecution, consideration will be given to the Council’s own policies as well as The Code for Crown Prosecutors fraud prosecution / sanction policy. If deemed appropriate legal proceedings will be undertaken in conjunction with Legal Services and / or other bodies such as the Police. Utilising the provisions of Section 222 of The Local Government Act 1972, the Corporate Fraud Team in conjunction with Legal Services are appropriatelyauthorised to undertake criminal prosecutions (Appendix A page 51 of the Agenda);

·         Increasing ownership of the fraud risks in service areas (Appendix A page 52 of the Agenda); and

·         Reduce the losses as a result of fraud or corruption and fully utilise available methods of loss recovery (e.g. POCA (Proceeds of Crimes Act) (Appendix A page 53 of the Agenda).

Councillor S Murray asked if this strategy also applied to Qualis and if so do the Council expect them to follow this strategy or did they have their own Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy.

Councillor I Hadley stated that  this strategy applied only to Epping Forest District Council as Qualis was a separate company.

Councillor S Murray asked if EFDC were the only shareholder in Qualis.

Councillor J Philip advised that Qualis did have its own strategy on Anti-Fraud and Corruption which was reported in the last Qualis Annual report about the governance that was in place. All Qualis policies are in place and are regularly monitored to make sure they are compliant. Being a private company their drivers are slightly different from being a local authority and that was why they required a different one because there were different standards that needed to be held because they were effectively a Government owned entity in terms of the bribery and corruption act which needed to be correct.

RESOLVED:

That the recommendations of the Audit and Governance Committee as set out below be agreed:

o   HR related fraud – such as false information on job applications, bogus qualifications / references, failing to declare previous convictions etc; (Appendix A page 50 of the Agenda)

o   In cases where the offence is deliberate and serious enough to warrant prosecution, consideration will be given to the Council’s own policies as well as The Code for Crown Prosecutors fraud prosecution / sanction policy. If deemed appropriate legal proceedings will be undertaken in conjunction with Legal Services and / or other bodies such as the Police. Utilising the provisions of Section 222 of The Local Government Act 1972, the Corporate Fraud Team in conjunction with Legal Services are appropriatelyauthorised to undertake criminal prosecutions (Appendix A page 51 of the Agenda);

o   Increasing ownership of the fraud risks in service areas (Appendix A page 52 of the Agenda); and

o   Reduce the losses as a result of fraud or corruption and fully utilise available methods of loss recovery (e.g. POCA (Proceeds of Crimes Act) (Appendix A page 53 of the Agenda).