Fraud probes at town hall
INVESTIGATORS at Calderdale Council have quizzed 23 people in the last six months over alleged fraud, corruption and breaking of council rules.
Of those, one was sacked, another quit their job and five were given formal warnings.
The amounts of money involved were small because strict audit procedures detect potential problems early on, according to audit committee member, Nader Fekri.
Details of the investigations are included in a report to the council’s corporate services committee.
“Systems are robust and improving all the time - in almost every case, the amount of monies involved during the past six months has only been about £100 or less,” said Coun Fekri (Lib-Dem, Calder).
“We certainly don’t have the problems that so often seem to come to light in other councils because here in Calderdale they are nipped in the bud.”
He said he was satisfied everything possible was being done to discourage, prevent and uncover any incidents of fraud and corruption involving staff and others dealing with the council.
In March this year, councillors introduced a whistleblowing policy separately from an anti-fraud and corruption strategy so that employees could report issues of concern without fear of reprisals.
In the report, going before councillors tomorrow, head of finance Pete Smith, said: “Internal auditors cannot carry out a 100 per cent check on every area of council business every year and much of the work does not lead to direct financial savings.”
Disciplinary hearings are pending following separate probes into maladministration at a council run care home and the way council property has been repaired.
Another nine unrelated cases are still under scrutiny and one person has been ordered to repay £240 as a result of work carried out by the auditors.
Insufficient evidence was found to show whether five more members of staff were responsible for any wrongdoing, said Mr Smith.
In addition, allegations of corruption at a school and alleged fraud concerning grants claimed by a private nursery were not proven but in both cases procedures were tightened.
Of the 10 new alleged fraud cases reported to auditors between April and September, two were referred via the council’s hotline for whistleblowers, six were from managers, one from a member of the public and one case from routine audit work.
A total of 23 audits have been conducted outside the council’s main offices such as at schools, care homes, libraries and cash offices.
Among the recommendations of the audit team is that regular checks should be made to ensure car mileage claims are correctly and fully completed, that two offices should count cash and that registers of pecuniary interest should be kept up to date.
Source: HalifaxToday (22/11/2006)
Other articles
Union fury at racist comment "let off" (01/11/2006)
Colchester: Councillor in the wrong (03/11/2006)
Disabled man wins parking ticket battle (12/11/2006)
Vital report not revealed (14/11/2006)
Anger over housing U-turn (19/11/2006)
Hall-ed Up Before Standards (21/11/2006)
Council blunder leads to pay out (22/11/2006)
Council rapped over mosque plans (29/11/2006)
Delight at garage battle outcome (29/11/2006)
Ikea: ‘public had right to know’ (29/11/2006)
Developer set to sue council (30/11/2006)
council complaints
CFO expelled
what law
what law: retribution
freedom of expression
what is maladministration
access to information
contact us
council corruption
nolan report
disclaimer
links
privacy policy
mud, dirt and filth
no, its a service request
£10K write off
council maladministration
misconduct news
sitemap