Report of: the Head of Financial Services

Purpose: to appraise Members of the activity and performance of the Corporate Investigation Team for the period 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017.

Recommendation: to discuss and note the report.

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Financial Services on the activity and performance of the Corporate Investigation Team for the period 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 and noted the confidential appendix.

Scott Warner, Investigations Team Manager, introduced the report.

The Committee noted and commented:

·         the fraud conference would run again in 2017;

·         an ‘invest to save’ bid could be made for funding to allow this to be offered free of charge given the opportunity for commissioning work for the team;

·         targets should be set to be achievable: this may mean lower rather than higher;

·         partnership working was continuing (where the relevant work continued) and there was flexibility in the contracts to allow a variety of solutions.

The Committee resolved to note the report and congratulated the team on their work and excellent performance.

Purpose of report: To appraise Members of the activity and performance of the Corporate   Investigation Team for the period 1 April 2015 to 31 January 2016

Recommendation: That the Committee note the report.        

The Chair took this item first.

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Financial Services, setting the activity and performance of the Corporate Investigation Team from 1 April 2015 to 31 January 2016.

In response to questions officers reported:

·         The team aimed to cover its costs by generating income and hoped to repeat this year’s success while accepting this may be harder.

·         The targets for the FERIS scheme had reduced significantly.

·         Income generated and loss avoidance figures for right to buy, property recovery, and housing application fraud prevention were calculated using the Audit Commission methodology.

·         Business rates were subsumed into the overall figures in the budget not separately identified: this was a significant amount of money but not a large percentage of the total income.

·         The satisfaction survey dealt with the process rather than the outcome and was generally completed at the time of the interview. Surveys could be taken away for completion but were generally not sent back.

Councillors asked for information on the actual net income recovered for the city and county councils in this financial year, in particular for business rates, through recovery and loss prevention.

The Committee noted the report and commended the team on their success.

Report of the Head of Financial Services.

Purpose: to appraise Members of the activity and performance of the Corporate Investigation Team for the period 1 April 2015 to 31st July 2015

Recommendation: that the Committee notes the report.

The Chair re-ordered the agenda to take this item first.

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Financial Services reporting the activity and performance of the Corporate Investigation Team for the period 1 April 2015 to 31 July 2015.

Scott Warner, the Investigations Manager, introduced the report. He outlined the results of the satisfaction survey; explained the method used in the report to calculate recovery and loss avoidance; and highlighted other key points in the report.

Among other points, the Committee noted:

·         the challenges involved in setting up the fraud hub;

·         the case management system was now running;

·         the target for the number of properties returned to housing stock in 2015/16 was considered in line with previous performance and realistic

The Committee noted the report and recorded their praise for the work of the team.

Report of the Head of Financial Services.

Purpose: to appraise Members of the activity and performance of the Corporate   Investigation Team for the period 1 April 2015 to 30 May 2015

Recommendation: The Committee is asked to note the report.

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Financial Services reporting the activity and performance of the Corporate Investigation Team for the period 1 April 2015 to 30 May 2015.

Scott Warner, the Investigations Manager, introduced the report. He said that implementation of the case management system was delayed by a month. Finding unregistered business premises was the result of officers checking the status of properties registered as empty and the business rates recovered were apportioned according to the normal formula. The income generated was the result of a few high value cases and not likely to be repeated. There were a high number of cases of social housing fraud under investigation and legal action was progressing in some cases.

Councillors commented that there may be value in working with those investigating ‘beds in sheds’.

The Committee noted the report and recorded their praise for the work of the team.