Issue - meetings

The Committee considered a report which provided a detailed review of the Council Tax fraud discovered in December 2019.  The report included details of the actions taken and controls put in place to reduce the risk of a similar fraud occurring in the future.

The subsequent discussion included reference to the following issues:

·         That all controls and measures that had been introduced to reduce the risk of fraud had been implemented across all relevant areas of the Council.  Such measures included the requirement for supporting audit trails across all areas;

·         Further explanation was provided in respect of the controls and measures that had been introduced to reduce the risk of fraud;

·         Questions were raised by the Committee in respect of the cost of the fraud to the Council and whether management failures had allowed the fraud to take place and, if so, whether there had been any accountability of these failures.  It was noted that the sophisticated nature of the fraud, including creation of evidence for management to check, had meant that the fraud had remained undetected.  However, it was acknowledged that anti-fraud controls were not working properly or had not been in place at the time and these issues had now been rectified;

·         Advice would be sought from the Legal Department in respect of whether the case papers from the criminal investigation could be circulated;

·         It was noted that the an assessment of fraud and risk would be reported to the Committee twice a year and that a further review of the Anti-Fraud Policy may be require in light of the findings of this investigation.  It was also noted that the 2021/22 internal audit would include a review of the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy which would be brought to the Committee.

It was requested that the TDC Anti-Fraud Policy be circulated.

R E S O L V E D – that the report be noted.