The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change presented a report which provided the Committee with the Council’s draft Fraud Strategy and Framework 2021/22 to 2024/25 and the draft Fraud Risk Register in accordance with the functions of the Governance and Audit Committee as outlined in the Terms of Reference, prior to submission to Cabinet for approval.

She thanked the staff who contributed to the report and stressed the importance of the fraud strategy and framework. She explained that there had been a large number of attempts to commit fraud, particularly during Covid-19.

The Senior Fraud Investigator stated that in July 2020 Audit Wales produced a report entitled ‘Raising Our Game – Tackling Fraud in Wales’.

The report identified seven key themes that all public bodies needed to focus on in raising their game to tackle fraud more effectively and made 15 recommendations across these themes.

He explained that the Fraud Strategy & Framework 2021/22 to 2024/25 was attached at Appendix A and outlined the aims and objectives of the strategy, identified fraud risks and this included a 3 year action plan, which will further improve the Council’s resilience to fraud, bribery and corruption.

The Senior Fraud Investigator stated that the report also included measures of success and a flow chart to demonstrate the Council’s approach to a suspected fraud. He outlined the key points in the strategy and framework including Roles & Responsibilities, Aims & Objectives, Current Fraud Landscape & Risks, the managing of the risk of fraud, bribery & corruption, action plan and measuring of success.

The Senior Fraud Investigator outlined the draft fraud risk register which was at Appendix B to the report and listed 20 potential fraud risks that had been identified throughout the Council. The register outlined the consequences of each risk and how each risk was being addressed.

The Chairperson thanked all involved with producing the report and stated that it was a clear and understandable read.

A Member asked if anyone had been prosecuted for fraud in the past financial year by the Council. The Senior Fraud Investigator confirmed that there had been some prosecutions relating to benefit fraud, with previous years being higher and relating more to blue badge fraud. A Member believed that highlighting fraud prosecutions to the public may deter future fraud attempts.

A Member asked what checks were carried out in terms of the tender process and was the Council confident that no fraud had taken place in this area.

The Head of Regional Internal Audit Service explained that at the last Governance and Audit Committee, a report on contracts was brought to Members to give assurance on the processes that were undertaken in Bridgend.  The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change also commented on the Council’s own processes and financial and contract procedure rules that were looked at when tendering, and much of these processes are very strictly managed.

The Lay Member welcomed the report and the Senior Fraud Investigator for working hard on tackling and preventing fraud for BCBC. She asked, in relation to Appendix A and the action plan, if there were plans to have implementation dates added to it. The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change confirmed that there were plans for targets, deadlines and actions relating to this. There would be implementation dates inserted where applicable, she confirmed. The Head of the Regional Internal Audit Service added that information from a variety of areas was used, from previous experiences, local intelligence, and current issues like cybersecurity to inform the Internal Audit Plan and cover the highest risk areas.

The Lay Member was concerned with the number of risks on Appendix B and asked if the service area/directorate could be listed next to each risk to gain a better understanding of where the biggest exposure to risks were.

The Lay Member asked if they would be able to identify who the risk would be associated with/linked to and who would be implementing the actions.

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change explained that, similar to the corporate risk register, there were a number of risks that were obvious who the responsibility lay with, however, some risks related to a number of areas, as opposed to being the sole responsibility of one person/one work area. She added that the Senior Fraud Investigator had also interviewed the Corporate Management Board (CMB) individually to try and identify areas of vulnerability, so that there was accountability among everyone, including top tier officers.

The Lay Member explained that the fraud risk register would be integrated within the corporate risk register. She asked for clarification on how this would work, i.e., would some be scored and then placed on the corporate risk register while others omitted. The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change explained that the way this was done had not been decided upon yet, though she added that risks would need to be decided upon in terms of how significant they were to warrant being included in the corporate risk register. She added that fraud was discussed in the corporate risk register, therefore there would always be a level of inclusion of these in the fraud risk register.

The Lay Member asked when the committee would be updated on the fraud risk register per se. The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change stated that the committee would receive a report on this at the end of each financial year.

A Member asked if there was any issues with fraud from within the authority as much of what was said related to external fraud. The Senior Fraud Investigator stated that there was a strong anti-fraud culture within BCBC and with the recent E Learning Module on Fraud being released to staff and members to undertake, he believed this enforced that.

The Chairperson asked in relation to risk 9 – election fraud - there was no mention of postal votes. She asked if that should be built into the risk register and strategy. The Senior Fraud Investigator agreed that this was a valid point and that he would bring this up with the electoral department to find out what mitigation was currently in place.

RESOLVED:            That the Committee noted the draft Fraud Strategy and Framework 2021/22 to 2024/25 and the draft fraud risk register prior to submission to Cabinet for approval.