Agenda item

This report provides an account of fraud-related activity undertaken by the Corporate Anti-Fraud Service from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.

Andrew Hyatt (Head of Corporate Anti-Fraud) presented the report that gave an account of fraud-related activity undertaken by the Corporate Anti-Fraud Service (CAFS) from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.

Councillor Alex Karmel asked for more information on the referral mentioned in the report from a department whose activities included ‘significant procurements’. Andrew Hyatt said the referral came from a department that purchased properties for temporary accommodation. There was no evidence of fraud or misappropriation, but a member of staff should have disclosed that a family member worked in a related area.

Councillor Matt Thorley asked what the increase in fraud loss recoveries related to (section 1.5 of the report). Andrew Hyatt said proceeds of crime cases were often quite long and recovery of funds can take up to two years. The figures reported don’t necessarily relate to fraud identified in that year. He said officers would try to make that clearer in future reports.

Councillor Alex Karmel asked if there had been any progress increasing the number of Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) actions.

Andrew Hyatt said it was a strategic objective moving forward and while Covid-19 had had an impact, proceeds of crime cases were progressing. He added that the team was looking to work more closely with Housing to obtain more investment in this area.

Councillor PJ Murphy asked what the impact of Covid-19 and remote working had been on the effectiveness of the team. Andrew Hyatt said they were fortunate to have the IT infrastructure and support in place already. Visiting and interviews had slowed but officers had restarted visits at the time of reporting. The team were now looking more closely at anti-fraud controls within services following changes from remote working.

Councillor Murphy asked if officers expected fewer properties to be recovered next year. And he asked if the Government’s eviction ban had impacted recovery work. Andrew Hyatt said they would see a reduction. The eviction policy didn’t have a huge impact.

Councillor Murphy asked if there was a potential risk around electoral registration and the impact on our data. Andrew Hyatt said he would need to follow up with electoral services. Rhian Davies said officers were currently reviewing whether to undertake the canvas.

ACTION: Andrew Hyatt / Rhian Davies

Councillor Matt Thorley asked if the eviction ban applied in cases of illegal subletting. Andrew Hyatt said his team were not taking action where it would cause an eviction at this time. If there was any evidence of fraud it would be passed on to Housing.

Councillor Rebecca Harvey asked why fraud with internal staff had seemingly doubled (1.5 of the report). Andrew Hyatt said it was due to some issues in a single team and it had been dealt with. A full report in December will provide more detail.

Councillor Harvey asked for an explanation ‘succession’ and ‘abandonment’ as they related to tenancy fraud (5.8 of the report). Andrew Hyatt explained that ‘succession’ was where a family member pretended they were living with a former tenant and ‘abandonment’ was similar to sub-letting where a tenant had moved.

Councillor Harvey asked if the team attempted to recover the rents earned in fraudulent sub-letting cases. Andrew Hyatt said what was handled by Housing and he could provide an answer outside of the meeting.

ACTION: Andrew Hyatt

RESOLVED

That the Committee noted the report.