Council Experts To Tackle Fraud

A new team has been launched to help staff and councillors protect public funds and ensure our use of resources is legal, properly authorised, and achieves best value. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Expert staff from the former Benefits Investigation Team – whose work was transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions last year – will help staff and managers get smarter about preventing, detecting, and acting on fraud arising from inside or outside the Council. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The law and our own Council Constitution mean all Council members and employees must take adequate steps to protect public funds and use resources appropriately. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The new Council Corporate Fraud Team (CFT) will be raising awareness of fraud and how to prevent it, promoting a zero tolerance culture to fraud, encouraging reporting of suspicions and taking action where evidence confirms ‘wrongdoing’ or fraud. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The team is responsible for investigations into areas such as Council Tax discounts and exemptions, Council Tax reduction, social housing, Blue Badges, direct payments for social care, grants and internal fraud in areas such as contracts, procurement, payroll, expenses, etc. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

If fraud is uncovered all appropriate action will be taken including disciplinary action, criminal prosecutions as well as recovery of losses. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Phil Roberts, Director of Place, said: “Every single one of us has a role to play in stopping fraudsters stealing our budgets. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“Fraudsters do not respect boundaries, rules, or regulations and will take any opportunity to steal money that is intended to help others. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“We must stop them and I am sure that, with the help and support of staff, we will succeed in doing just that. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“The creation of the CFT is another foundation that embeds counter fraud activity into day-to-day running of the Council and demonstrates unequivocally that the City and County of Swansea will not tolerate fraud.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

To compliment CFT, new staffnet pages have been introduced. The pages cover in detail – what is fraud, how to report different types of fraud, and an online form to report fraud. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​