Ian O’Donnell: Counter fraud update
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Ian O’Donnell is executive director of corporate resources at Ealing Council and chair of the Fighting Fraud Locally Strategy Board.
The counter fraud landscape continues to change dramatically, with new fraud risks emerging and central government policy changes impacting upon councils.
As the rollout of the DWP’s Single Fraud Investigation Service (SFIS) continues across the country and council benefit fraud investigators transfer to DWP, the picture emerging is a mixed one. Some councils have taken the opportunity to create shared services with their neighbours, ensuring that the remaining counter fraud team has enough critical mass to deliver the service needed; some have decided to make do with whatever counter fraud resource they have left; some have been left with no counter fraud resource, and some have increased their counter fraud resource by successfully bidding for funds or by making an invest-to-save business case. Councils have generally found that the transfer has progressed smoothly. However, many have reported that there is still a heavy residual workload in referring cases and providing information, and that the implementation of Real Time Information (RTI) data matching with tax credits has led to a very significant increase in the number of cases requiring attention. It will be important to monitor the impact of SFIS and understand where gaps in the counter fraud response emerge so that these can be addressed.
DCLG announced the successful bids to its Counter Fraud Fund of £16m in December. The total value of all bids received was £36m. There is a wide spread of fraud types addressed in the successful bids, with some emerging fraud risks (such as sham marriages, health tourism, and business rates) being explored. Many of the bids involve joint working through sharing staff or data. The list of successful bids is available here.
CIPFA launched its new Counter Fraud Centre in July 2014. Since then the Centre has developed two new qualifications accredited by the University of Portsmouth: the CIPFA Accredited Counter Fraud Specialist (CACFS), which offers CIPFA affiliate membership, and the CIPFA Accredited Counter Fraud Technician (CACFT). CIPFA reports that early take up of the training has been strong. The Centre offers a wide range of tools and resources for counter fraud practitioners, and can be found here.
CIPFA’s Counter Fraud Centre also hosts Fighting Fraud Locally, the counter fraud strategy for local government. The strategy is now three years old and is being revised to take into account the significant changes that have taken place to the counter fraud landscape and the types of fraud risk that councils face. The new strategy is being developed by the Counter Fraud Centre on behalf of the FFL Board and has the support of the LGA and DCLG. A conference will be held to launch the new strategy in the Spring.
The Audit Commission continues to wind down its counter fraud work. The National Fraud Initiative (NFI), the Commission’s successful data matching service, is due to transfer to Cabinet Office when the Audit Commission closes in 2015. It is not yet clear how the service will fit with the Cabinet Office’s other operations.
The Fighting Fraud Awards, now in their third year, recognise the efforts of individuals and bodies within the public sector who have done the most to combat and prevent fraud. There are nine categories in all. Nominations closed on 28 November 2014. The winners will be announced at an evening ceremony in London on 10 February 2015. You can find the Fighting Fraud Awards website here.
