Issue - meetings

Report to follow

That (A) East Herts Council becomes a partner in the Shared Anti-Fraud Service for non-benefit and corporate fraud between the Councils identified above;

(B)     the Director of Finance and Support Services be authorised to make the detailed arrangements to establish the Shared Anti-Fraud Service; and

(C)    funding arrangements will be finalised through a growth bid for 2015/16, following the outcome of the bid for set-up costs to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The Executive Member of Finance submitted a report seeking approval for the participation in and establishment of a Shared Anti-Fraud Service for non-benefit and corporate fraud by means of a partnership with five other Authorities – Broxbourne Borough Council, Hertfordshire County Council, Hertsmere Borough Council, North Herts District Council and Stevenage Borough Council.

He suggested that this would be a natural extension of the existing Shared Internal Audit Service, but that there were other drivers.  In particular, the significant cost of fraud to the public purse, estimated against local government at £2.1 billion annually of which only 2.7% was detected.  He also detailed a number of national developments at paragraph 2.1.2 of the report submitted.  Finally, he advised that the bid for set-up costs to the Department for Communities and Local Government had been successful.

In response to Members’ comments and questions, the Director of Finance and Support Services confirmed that the proposed service would manage their own IT systems.  Each area would receive a fixed element of resources on preventative work but that other resources would need to be allocated to wherever fraud had been identified.

The Executive approved the proposals as now detailed.

RESOLVED - that (A) East Herts Council becomes a partner in the Shared Anti-Fraud Service for non-benefit and corporate fraud between the Councils now identified;

(B)      the Director of Finance and Support Services be authorised to make the detailed arrangements to establish the Shared Anti-Fraud Service; and

(C)      funding arrangements will be finalised through a growth bid for 2015/16, following the outcome of the bid for set-up costs to the Department for Communities and Local Government.