Purpose: To appraise the Committee of the activity and performance of the Corporate Investigation Team for the period 1 April 2016 to 31 July 2016.

Recommendation: That the Audit & Governance Committee notes the report.

The Chair took 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 to 31 July 2016.

The Investigations Manager introduced the report and highlighted the continuing success of the team in meeting, or exceeding, its performance targets. In particular he commented on the success of the Fraud Prevention Open Day which had taken place earlier that day and which had been very well attended.  He said that he was optimistic that there would be external work for the team as a result of some of the business leads identified. Members of the Committee who had attended the Open Day paid complement to the success of the event.

The Committee thanked the Investigations Manager for the report and congratulated him and his team on being selected as a finalist for the Institute of Revenues, Ratings and Valuations (IRRV) performance awards.

The Committee agreed that in future the Corporate Investigation Team should submit a report twice a year, to cover performance for the half and full year. They suggested that the fraud data should in future be included in the CEB performance reports and should show the net financial benefits.

The Committee resolved to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the item in the exempt from publication part of the agenda in accordance with the provisions in Paragraph 21(1)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2000 on the grounds that their presence could involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in specific paragraphs of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 and that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Investigations Manager answered the Committee’s questions on the individual cases listed in the confidential appendix.

The Committee noted the report and the confidential appendix.

The meeting then resumed in public session.