Issue - meetings
CFEU Update Report (RIPA and IPA annual update)
Meeting: 09/04/2026 - Audit & Governance Committee (Item 75)
75 CFEU Update Report (Including RIPA and IPA annual update) 
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To provide the Committee with assurance over the counter fraud activities of the Council. Direct updates will continue to be provided biannually.
The report also provides the annual update in relation to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA) and the Council’s existing authorisation arrangements.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The CFEU Assistant Director presented a summary of service activity for 2025–26, including the annual update on RIPA and IPA surveillance powers and an update on the whistleblowing policy. Members were advised that procurement remained a key focus; with strengthened controls in place, including a procurement fraud section on the Council’s intranet, a new fraud risk register, and ongoing mandatory training across the District partnership.
The fraud awareness workstream had been expanded to target different audiences, with tailored approaches for staff, Members, and residents. The new “failure to prevent fraud” offence was highlighted, relating particularly to procurement activity where if processes were not properly followed.
Further initiatives included the launch of a public fraud reporting website (‘Glassjar’), continued work on business grants (with remaining debt collection transferred to external agencies) and ongoing National Fraud Initiative work, focusing mainly on council tax, housing, and payroll data matching. The housing waiting list review had been delayed but was expected to commence within the year. Reactive casework included a review of council tax reduction claims, which had identified, with a further report to follow on lessons learned. Surveillance, policy updates were noted, with a full review scheduled later in the year, alongside a minor amendment to the whistleblowing policy following legislative change.
In relation to COVID-19 grant payments, Members noted the £75.5m distributed and queried the £1 million identified as resulting from fraud and error, as well as the remaining unrecovered sum of over £500,000 and reference to “DBT”. Officers advised that given the scale and urgency of the schemes, some fraud and error was expected primarily arising from incorrect or duplicate applications and that the Councils post-payment audit approach had supported identification of issues. The Officer noted that, in the context of the total £75.5 million distributed, the £1 million attributed to fraud and error was relatively low. It was further explained that the council undertook a comprehensive post-payment audit of all mandatory grants, a process not carried out universally by other authorities, which contributed to the identification of these figures. Some duplication arose from genuine confusion due to the complexity and rapid evolution of multiple grant schemes, rather than deliberate dishonesty. Regarding recovery, the Officer stated that recovered funds had been returned to central government, as it was the original source of the grant funding. Responsibility for the remaining outstanding debt had been transferred to the relevant government department (the Department for Business and Trade, DBT).
Officers advised that at the time, the Council was reliant on temporary staff to administer the schemes, and that some errors were attributable to reliance on temporary staff and limited central government guidance at the time, and that CDC’s error and fraud rates were notably lower than that of government as well as compared to other local authorities. Members were advised that communications regarding the ‘Glassjar’ fraud reporting site had been issued and further details would be provided to the Committee outside the meeting.