Anti-fraud and corruption policy

Chief Executive

Accountable for the effectiveness of the council’s arrangements for countering fraud and corruption.

Assistant Director (Legal and Governance)

(Monitoring Officer)

Statutory responsibility to ensure that the council operates within the law.

Overall responsibility for the Members Code of Conduct and the maintenance and operation of the Whistleblowing Procedure

Executive Director (Finance & Transformation)

(Section 151 Officer)

To ensure the council has adopted and implemented an appropriate Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy/Strategy .

To ensure that the council has an adequately resourced and effective Internal Audit service to support “counter fraud” activity.

Board Member of the Shared Anti-Fraud Service

Assistant Director (Finance)

(Deputy Section 151 Officer)

Contract Manager for Shared-Anti Fraud Service

To champion anti-fraud activities and training

Audit Committee

To monitor the adequacy and effectiveness of the arrangements in place for combating fraud and corruption.

Members

To comply with the Members Code of Conduct and related council policies and procedures.

To be aware of the possibility of fraud, corruption, bribery and theft, and to report any genuine concerns accordingly.

Internal Audit

Provide assurance to senior management and members that the Council adheres to its polices and procedures to deter, prevent and respond to suspected fraud.

Shared Anti-fraud Service

Responsible for developing and promoting the requirements of the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy and monitoring and/or undertaking the investigation of any reported issues.

To ensure that all suspected or reported irregularities are dealt with promptly and in accordance with this strategy and that action is identified to improve controls and reduce the risk of recurrence.

To provide support for the Councils mandatory participation in the Cabinet Office National Fraud Initiative, voluntary participation in the Hertfordshire FraudHub and other data-analytics projects to help identify/prevent fraud.

Providing guidance and support to senior management on new and emerging fraud risks and management recommendations where fraud has arisen due to system weaknesses.

External Audit

Statutory duty to ensure that the Council has adequate arrangements in place for the prevention and detection of fraud, corruption, bribery and theft.

Directors, Assistant Directors, Service Managers

To promote and anti-fraud and corruption culture by raising staff awareness and ensure that all suspected or reported irregularities are immediately reported or referred as per the council’s whistleblowing policy and procedure.

To ensure that there are mechanisms in place within their service areas to assess the risk of fraud, corruption, bribery and theft and to reduce these risks by implementing strong internal controls.

To document procedures in areas that are of high risk of fraud activity (for example for Tenancy Fraud).

To comply with council policies and procedures.

To be aware of the possibility of fraud, corruption and bribery, and to report any genuine concerns to management or via the Whistleblowing procedure.

To undertake all mandatory, relevant or recommended anti-fraud training.

Public, Service Users, Partners, Suppliers, Contractors and Consultants