Agenda item

This report provides an account of fraud-related activity undertaken during the financial year 2024/25 to minimise the risk of fraud, bribery and corruption occurring within and against the Council.

Andy Hyatt (Head of Fraud) introduced the report which provided an account of fraud-related activity undertaken by the Corporate Anti-Fraud Service (CAFS) from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 to minimise the risk of fraud, bribery and corruption occurring within and against the Council. The report also detailed activity and performance against the Council's Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy to assess its effectiveness, highlighted some of the current and emerging areas of fraud risk and provided an overview of the effectiveness of the Council's arrangements to minimise the risk of fraud. Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, the Council processed 92 new referrals and concluded 441 investigations. Conclusions varied from successful prosecutions to preventative measures, actions to deter fraud, or no further action if no wrongdoing was found. Out of the concluded cases, 112 resulted in positive outcomes related to preventing, detecting, or recovering fraud loss.

Councillor Lisa Homan asked about illegal TV streaming and sought further information on the topic. Andy Hyatt explained that there was a property within the Borough that was streaming football illegally to other residents. He added that 18% of the recovered money from the investigation would go to LBHF and that they were working closely with Sky and the Premier League.

Councillor Lisa Homan highlighted the issue of housing tenancy fraud and asked whether the Housing Associations were seeking help on this. Andy Hyatt told the Committee that LBHF had invested in a financial investigator to tackle this and were liaising with the Planning department. He added that Housing Associations had been getting their own investigators on board.

Councillor David Morton raised the issue of abandoned vehicles as well as untaxed and uninsured vehicles. He asked whether there was a mechanism to coordinate with the DVLA as usually Councillors were told that it was the DVLAs responsibility whenever they report an incident of this nature. Andy Hyatt explained that they did speak to the DVLA to gain intelligence on individuals but that there was not much coordination regarding abandoned vehicles. He agreed to have a further look at this after the meeting and liaise with Councillor Morton.                                                 

ACTION: Andy Hyatt

Councillor David Morton questioned the policy on squatting in commercial property and asked if it cost LBHF money to remove squatters as there was no legislation regarding commercial property like there was with residential property. Andy Hyatt agreed to liaise with the Community Safety Lead and the Metropolitan Police and come back to the committee with more information on this topic at a later date.

                                                                                  ACTION: Andy Hyatt

Councillor Callum Nimmo queried the trend in the figures regarding the number of properties that had been recovered due to fraudulent usage this year compared to the previous year. Andy Hyatt confirmed that the numbers were relatively even year-to-year.

Councillor Callum Nimmo asked how the majority of fraud cases were reported. Andy Hyatt told the committee that the way cases were reported varied, it was sometimes from maintenance workers who were working at the properties in question, there had also been reports from Councillors when canvassing.

The Chair sought more clarity on the calculation used to determine the loss to LBHF when there was fraud at a property and the gain when it was recovered. Andy Hyatt explained that it was a complicated formula and that he was happy to provide more details after the meeting.

                                                                                  ACTION: Andy Hyatt

Councillor Lisa Homan questioned whether there was a way to calculate the loss to LBHF of court cases being delayed and whether the loss could be recovered. Andy Hyatt told Members that there were routes such as a Civil Recovery, but that the most important action for the fraud team was to recover the property for proper usage. He added that he would check with LBHF’s legal team to seek the best route for recovering losses from delayed court cases.

                                                                                  ACTION: Andy Hyatt

RESOLVED:

That Members noted the report.