Agenda item

The Committee received a report which provided a combined update on the work undertaken by the in-house Audit and FraudResources team, as well as its outsourced partner Mazars, for the quarterending 30 September 2020.  The report was introduced by Minesh Jani, Head of Audit and Risk Management, as set out in the agenda pack at pages 85-92. The following was raised in discussion of this item:

a.    In response to a question, officers advised that the target for reclaiming properties was a notional target to measure the team’s performance in reclaiming properties that had been secured fraudulently by people who had no entitlement to a council property. A national study had found that the percentage of fraudulently held council tenancies was around 5% and this measure was the means by which the Council could monitor such activity.

b.    In relation to a question around Right to Buy properties purchased with fraudulent funds, officers advised that checks were carried out as part of money laundering regulations to establish the source of funds used to purchase a property, to ensure that those funds were legitimate.

c.    The Committee enquired what audit processes were in place to oversee the millions of pounds of government money distributed locally in response to Covid. In response, officers acknowledged that this was a huge task, particularly as the government had stipulated that limited entitlement checks were undertaken, in order to speed up the distribution of grants to businesses.  Instead, local authorities would be carrying out a robust process of post assurance checks, including cross-referencing national fraud databases and working with the National Fraud Initiative. The Council was submitting monthly returns to government on this.

d.    In relation to non-fraudulent Right to Buy applications that were refused, officers advised that the role of the Fraud Team was to ensure that things were done properly and that there was an additional level of assurance. The Fraud Team did not interfere in the application process but there were some situations that would illicit involvement and checks being undertaken by the service to ensure that the person was entitled to purchase the property.

e.    In relation to a question, officers advised that where there was sufficient evidence, cases would be referred to the Police and that the Council was also able to use its in-house Legal team to prosecute. There were currently two cases of tenancy fraud being progressed internally.

f.     The Head of Audit and Risk Management agreed to send the audit plan for the year to the Committee. (Action: Minesh Jani).

g.    The Committee requested a provisional assessment of the robustness of internal systems for monitoring/auditing Covid-related grants distributed by Haringey on behalf of the government. (Action: Minesh Jani).

h.    The Chair requested a follow-up report on the audit of the disposal of assets, following the points of clarification requested at the last meeting and to provide further assurance that the recommendations had been fully implemented. (Action: Minesh Jani).

RESOLVED

That the Corporate Committee noted the activities of the team during quarter two 2020/21.