Agenda item

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Resources which presented the Annual Protecting the Public Purse Report that provided information on the work that had been carried out by the Corporate Fraud Team during the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 (for copy see file of Minutes).

Councillor B Kellett asked if residential properties were investigated for council tax fraud if it was apparent there was more than one person living in the property over the age of 18 and the household claimed single occupancy.

P Gibbon agreed to investigate the issue if Councillor B Kellett provided him the specific details of the enquiry outside of the meeting.

Mr I Rudd referred to paragraph 31 of the report regarding the Northeast Regional Fraud Hub pilot and queried if there were plans to continue this work.

P Gibbon replied that the Northeast Regional Fraud Hub pilot had been established to enable data sharing between Durham County Council, Gateshead Council and Newcastle City Council. The pilot had been very successful which had used new software to analyse data.  There were intentions to roll this out with other local authorities which included Northumberland County Council over the next 12-18 months.

Mr I Rudd asked if the new North East Mayor for the region would help to assist in the scheme.

P Gibbon thought the new Mayor would help assist the scheme as there was a great deal of appetite to continue with this work.

Resolved:

That the contents of the Annual Protecting the Public Purse Report 2023/24 that included the work carried out by the Corporate Fraud Team over the last year, the fraud types and estimated values identified in 2023/24 (Appendix 3) and the Corporate Fraud Team Operational Plan 2024/25 (Appendix 4) be noted.