Agenda item

To consider a progress report in respect of the delivery of the SAFS Anti-Fraud Plan 2023/24.

The Shared Anti-Fraud Service (SAFS) Manager presented a report in respect of progress with delivery of the 2023/24 Anti-Fraud Plan.

In relation to Appendix B to the report (Progress against 2023/24 Key Performance Indicators [KPIs]), the SAFS Manager advised that a number of these were at “yellow” status and required further work, namely:

·         KPI 2A – Number of Counter Fraud days – only 31% of days had been recorded in Quarters 1 and 2, due to changes in the Case Management System and staff adjusting to the time recording requirements of the new System.  It should be close to target at the end of Quarter 4;

·         KPI 3A – Urgent/High risk cases picked up within 1 day – this was occurring, although this was not yet recognised by the Case Management System (work was taking place to rectify this);

·         KPI 4D – Training events – SAFS was looking to deliver training for members and Officers (including e-learning modules) over the coming months; and

·         KPI 6 – Use of National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data – there was a high volume of data outputs/matches which were in the process of being reviewed.  It was planned to complete this work by the end of the current Financial Year.

With regard to the report, the SAFS Manager stated that, between April and September 2023, SAFS received 101 ‘referrals’ or allegations of fraud affecting Council services.  Allegations received had increased slightly compared to the same period in 2022/23.  Of the 101 referrals received, 48 came from members of the public and 53 from Council staff.  14 cases of ‘tenancy fraud’ were currently being investigated within the Council’s boundaries with the intention that, once recovered, these properties would be made available to families from the Council’s housing register, including those in temporary accommodation.

The Committee was informed that SAFS had worked with the ‘District Revenues Manager Group’ to develop a framework contract for all district councils in Hertfordshire to conduct bulk reviews of council tax discounts and exemptions, improving collection and preventing fraud.  SAFS was working with Council officers to review the outcome from the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) by providing resources and support to deal with reports/matches received in February 2023.  To date of 1,310 matches, 464 high priority matches had been reviewed, 50 discrepancies and 12 frauds identified and savings of £223,000 recorded.

The SAFS Manager stated that the Council subscribed to the Hertfordshire FraudHub.  This project operated using the same legal framework as main NFI Hub, but allowed data to be matched more frequently helping to prevent fraud or detecting it sooner.  In Quarters 1 & 2 more than 4,400 matches had been reported, of which 856 had been reviewed.

The SAFS Manager advised that SAFS had provided a number of reports to the Council’s senior management about fraud risks identified from investigations, both at the Council and other SAFS Partners, with recommendations on how the Council could better manage/mitigate these risks in future.  Where recommendations related directly to Council services, SAFS had shared reports with Shared Internal Audit Services (SIAS) to help inform future audit planning.

In response to a number of Members’ questions, the SAFS Manager commented as follows:

·         SAFS staff worked in a variety of locations across the county, and worked closely with each council’s Revenues and Benefits Service.  SAFS representatives also attended each council’s Corporate Governance Group meetings.  It was recognised that SAFS officers could not cover the whole of the county at all times, which was why it was important that officers from other departments were educated to identify suspected fraudulent that, if necessary, could be reported back to SAFS;

·         In terms of the high volume work relating to the NFI Hub, the highest risk data matches were prioritised and investigated first.  The SAFS Manager was satisfied that the resource level within the Team was adequate for the amount of workload generated through the NFI Hub;

·         There could be circumstances when the Council could take direct action against fraudsters rather than go through SAFS, which was one reason why the education of Council staff in anti-fraud matters was important; and

·         Regarding KPI 2A, it was hoped that the issues caused by the new Case Management system would be rectified to enable the target number of SAFS days delivered by 31 March 2024 to be met.  However, regardless of whether or not the target number of days would be delivered, the Council would not be entitled to a refund of costs from SAFS.

It was RESOLVED that the work of the Council and the Shared Anti-Fraud Service in delivering the 2023/24 Anti-Fraud Plan be noted.