Agenda item

8.1

The Head of Strategic Finance submitted a report to the Committee.  Stephen Bower, Finance Manager (Internal Audit), informed the Committee of the outcomes of the work undertaken by Internal Audit on fraud and corruption in 2018/19 and the proposed work for 2019/20.

8.2

SCC had a suite of fraud related policies which had been previously approved by the Committee that gave a consistent message about fraud tolerance and the approach for the identification of fraud risks and their mitigation.  There was also a process to allow managers to investigate potential fraud effectively, in line with other relevant policies and procedures.

8.3

Throughout 2018/19, Internal Audit had conducted 29 investigations into alleged fraud and supported management to investigate a further 36 cases.  The cases investigated related to members of staff and included false claims for services/benefits, cash theft, excessive use of internet during working time and falsification of expense claims and timesheets.

8.4

In all cases, they were dealt with efficiently and following investigations appropriate sanctions were applied where cases were proven.

8.5

The proposed work for 2019/20 equated to approximately 18% of the Internal Audit work plan.  This covered 5 areas, including time for investigations, time to review and update policies, resources to manage the NFI processes, an annual review of Housing Benefits processes and six reviews to assess areas from an anti-fraud perspective.

8.6

A completed checklist for those responsible for governance was attached to the report.

8.7

RESOLVED: That:-

(a)          The Committee note the content of the report.

(b)          The Committee note the completed checklist for those responsible for governance.