The report provided Members with details of the work of the Fraud Investigation team for the period of January 2015 through to May 2015.  The number of completed investigations and the subsequent sanctions applied to offenders bore no relation to the number of investigations opened during the same period.

174 referrals of potential fraud were reported between January 2015 and May 2015.  With the exception of 2 potential housing tenancy frauds, 172 of the referrals were for suspected Housing Benefit (HB) and/or Local Council Tax Support (LCTS) fraud.

25 cases were successfully investigated during the period, all for benefit fraud.  The Fraud Investigation team applied sanctions to all 25 cases. 

The Chair congratulated Mr Steels and the team on the positive media coverage success which sent out a strong message.

Mr Steels confirmed this would likely to be the last Fraud Statistics report of its kind due to the Fraud Investigation team being transferred to the Department of Working Pensions (DWP) as of 1^st September 2015. There had not been any indication from the DWP on how reporting would be done in the future. 

Mr Steels assured Members that the Council Tax base would be protected by the introduction of the new compliance roles with the service which had been funded by Essex County Council.  BDO had been commissioned to undertake fraud risk assessment who had given Officers a report to review and made recommendations which would be addressed in due course.  BDO would be commissioned to look into the risk assessment for corporate fraud.

The Committee requested appropriate reporting from DWP back to the committee in order for continuous monitoring of the statistics.  

The Chair thanked Mr Steels for the work he had done for the Committee and Council.  

A motion was MOVED by Cllr Kerslake and SECONDED by Cllr Wiles to agree the recommendation in the report.

A vote was taken by a show of hands and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that:

1.    The contents of the report be noted by Members.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION

To note the work of the Fraud investigation team.