A new plan has been drawn up to tackle council-related fraud in Redcar and Cleveland.
The organisation Veritau, which is employed by the council to carry out such work, said more than £41,000 had been saved in the last 12 months due to counter-fraud measures.
The plan, covering the 2025/26 financial year and shared with the council’s governance committee, said: “When fraud is committed against the public sector, money is diverted from vital public services into the hands of criminals.
“Local authorities should therefore ensure that they have the right policies and procedures in place to prevent it from happening.
“They should also promote a strong anti-fraud culture at all levels of the organisation and encourage members of the public to raise any concerns they have about fraud.
“The methods employed by criminals are constantly evolving as they explore new ways to defraud organisations.
“To respond effectively, councils need to monitor the fraud landscape to ensure that their counter fraud measures offer protection from these evolving threats.”
A fraud risk assessment for the coming financial year identified three areas which were subject to the highest level of ‘inherent risk’ and ‘residual risk’.
These were social care, fraud against creditor payment systems and cyber crime, although a number of other risk areas were identified.
Actions to be taken to prevent fraud
The plan said 150 days would be committed in respect of counter fraud actions this year by Veritau.
A large proportion of this work would comprise “reactive investigations” determined by referrals received from officers and the public about suspected fraud with the remainder proactive work, including maintaining a counter fraud policy framework used by the council.
It also said the council may have to revise its policy in order to reflect the new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, which introduces a new ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence in respect of corporate organisations.
The document said: “Strong action is taken to punish criminals and recover funds lost to fraud.
“All cases of fraud are investigated to criminal standards and the council considers prosecution of suspected offenders where appropriate, or can apply a range of other potential sanctions.”
It also described regular communications issued to employees that raise awareness of fraud and how to report concerns with counter-fraud training provided to all managers.
Whistleblowing arrangements were also in place with Veritau providing an external whistleblowing hotline.
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