Agenda item

To provide the Committee with an update on the work of the Public Protection Service in tackling fraud and financial abuse.

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 9) which provided an update on the work of the Public Protection Service in tackling fraud and financial abuse.

Sean Murphy provided a summary of the strategy being used to help tackle this high profile issue which was a rising point of concern. This type of crime could often take place in a person’s home, via the internet or on receipt of mail scams.

The Service was responding by widening community engagement with residents and ongoing communication. Officers did seek to advocate on behalf of victims and a Fraud Victim Support Officer was employed within the Service. The significant impact of such crimes on victims was noted.

Local authorities played the main role in investigating reports of unfair trading, but Thames Valley Police had also formed a small team that worked with local authorities. A national support mechanism was in place that supported work across local authority boundaries. Bids could be made to help fund investigations. A team of specialist officers was in place within the Service to investigate larger scale fraud.

Alison Beynon advised that scams were becoming increasingly complex and crimes were often linked to money laundering. A higher number of victims had been identified and this was a result of improved intelligence gathering. Officer resource was available to undertake financial investigations, but this was limited as pulling together evidence for cases was a significant task. Alison also advised that unfortunately there was a delay in getting cases through the courts.

Councillor Kandy Jefferies highlighted the importance of education and preventative work. He particularly highlighted young people being targeted online and queried awareness raising in schools, and what was being done to support the elderly who could be a victim of phone scams. It was good practice to hang up on a caller if in doubt and agree to call back (after verifying the firm’s official phone number). Councillor Jefferies also encouraged people to come forward and report incidents.

Sean Murphy agreed these were very important points and it was hoped that engagement work could be expanded as prevention was clearly preferable and less costly than conducting an investigation. Awareness raising was key as was support for more vulnerable residents who were often targeted by the criminals. Support often came from family and friends.

George Lawrence explained that awareness raising did take place within schools, via a podcast and with Thames Valley Police. While it was resource intensive, this work did help to achieve savings at a later stage. Performance standards were in place to achieve good levels of engagement.

Sean Murphy added that the Service actively sought grant funding to help support its work, including engagement. It was important to get as much information as possible into the public domain in order to keep residents informed. Sean confirmed that regular updates would be brought to the Committee and the feedback from Members would be taken on board.

RESOLVED that:

·         The actions taken by the Service to mitigate the impacts of fraud and financial abuse on businesses and residents were noted.

·         The Committee would receive an annual report on service delivery appertaining to this important area of work.