Issue - meetings
STRATEGY FOR THE PREVENTION AND DETECTION OF FRAUD, CORRUPTION AND BRIBERY AND THE FRAUD RESPONSE PLAN
Meeting: 21/09/2021 - Cabinet (Item 5)
To consider a report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet endorsement of the revised Strategy and associated Fraud Response Plan.
Additional documents:
- COUNTER FRAUD CORRUPTION STRATEGY - APPENDIX 1, item 5 PDF 518 KB
- COUNTER FRAUD RESPONSE PLAN - APPENDIX 2, item 5 PDF 356 KB
- Webcast for STRATEGY FOR THE PREVENTION AND DETECTION OF FRAUD, CORRUPTION AND BRIBERY AND THE FRAUD RESPONSE PLAN
Decision:
RESOLVED that Cabinet
endorse the revised Strategy for the Prevention and Detection of Fraud,
Corruption and Bribery and associated Fraud Response Plan and provide support
to ensure that measures are embedded throughout the organisation.
Minutes:
Councillor
Julian Thompson-Hill presented the report seeking Cabinet endorsement of the
revised Strategy for the Prevention and Detection of Fraud and associated Fraud
Response Plan. The Strategy and Plan had been considered by Governance and
Audit Committee on 28 July 2021 and recommended to Cabinet for adoption.
The
Strategy and Plan formed part of the Council’s counter fraud framework, a
collection of interrelated policies and procedures including the Code of
Conduct, Financial Regulations and Whistleblowing Policy. It included policies and procedures
specifically targeted at countering fraud and corruption and provided a
management tool to ensure progress and transparency with regard to
counter-fraud activities. The importance
of keeping up to date anti-fraud strategies and plans to ensure compliance with
laws and regulations was highlighted.
Whilst there was no requirement to submit the documents to Cabinet for
approval it had been considered beneficial in order to further raise awareness
of the issue.
Cabinet
acknowledged the importance of the Strategy and Plan and was keen to hear more
about plans to engage and raise awareness in that regard both internally and
externally and how outcomes would be monitored and evaluated. The Lead Member and officers reported upon
raising awareness through the Council’s democratic processes and publication of
the Strategy and Plan on the Council’s website.
If Cabinet was minded to approve the documents the Lead Member advised
that he could arrange for them to be circulated to all members as
appropriate. An e-learning module for
staff was being developed with plans to extend that learning to members,
specifically for the new Council following the elections in May 2022 in order
to raise awareness at an early stage.
For key strategic partners those arrangements were overseen as part of
the internal audit work with a focus on counter fraud measures and there was
also a partnership toolkit which required an annual self-assessment on aspects
such as financial monitoring, governance and compliance; it was confirmed that
Denbighshire Leisure Limited would be aware of the arrangements in place. In terms of whistleblowing the policy had recently
been reviewed and continued to be promoted to ensure concerns could be raised
and dealt with appropriately. An annual
report was submitted to Governance and Audit Committee to monitor operation of
the whistleblowing policy and consider outcomes.
RESOLVED that Cabinet
endorse the revised Strategy for the Prevention and Detection of Fraud,
Corruption and Bribery and associated Fraud Response Plan and provide support
to ensure that measures are embedded throughout the organisation.