Fighting fraud and corruption

We have a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and corruption. We are determined to protect ourselves against fraud and corruption and will take appropriate action where such matters are referred to us.

You can report suspicions of fraud or corruption (whistleblowing) in confidence.

Fraud and corruption strategy

The overview of the Fraud Act 2006 (PDF, 336KB) explains the legislation we work under.

Our Counter Fraud and Corruption Strategy (PDF, 379KB)​ is designed to help fight fraud and corruption by encouraging prevention while also promoting detection. It identifies how we will investigate suspected cases and the action we will take.

The law says the council must have internal procedures to prevent the use of its services for money laundering. We set these in our Anti Bribery and Corruption Policy (PDF, 272KB)​.

We must also follow the Anti-Money Laundering Policy (PDF, 354KB).

Internal audit and counter fraud plan

The internal audit and counter fraud plan details the Internal Audit team's priorities and activities over the next financial year.

Types of fraud we investigate

The types of fraud we may investigate include:

Adult social care
Potential offloading of assets to avoid paying for care, overstating care needs and misuse of direct payments.

Expenses and travel
Misuse of a Blue Badge or Concessionary Travel Pass. May also include false claims for travel by staff members.

Procurement
Failure to deliver commissioned hours, or sub-standard work by contractors.

Mandate fraud
Fraudulent details may be sent in to the payments team, claiming to be from providers who have changed their bank details.

Scam emails
Fraudulent emails are sent, claiming to be from senior council officials, requesting urgent payments.

Grants
Applications for grant funding from the council may be falsified, inaccurate or fraudulent. Grants may not be used for the purpose they were awarded.

Internal fraud
Recruitment fraud (providing false references or qualifications), falsification of expenses and payroll-related fraud.

Blue Badge fraud
Misuse of Blue Badges and people who use an altered or fake badge.