Public sector organisations pick up counter fraud awards

22 Sep 17

Public sector organisations from HM Revenue & Customs to Leeds City Council picked up accolades at last night’s Government Counter Fraud Awards.

The awards, organised jointly by the Cabinet Office, CIPFA and the National Crime Agency, recognised the best of the public sector’s efforts to tackle growing fraud threats.

CIPFA chief executive Rob Whiteman cited research from CIPFA’s Counter Fraud Centre, which has found public sector fraud costs the taxpayer an estimated £21bn a year while scams are becoming more complex and sophisticated.

“It is imperative that we work collaboratively to ensure we apply greater sophistication to our efforts of combating fraud,” he said.

“All the entries in these Government Counter Fraud Awards exemplify the ingenuity and dedication of the teams who are working tirelessly to weed out public sector fraud in all its many forms.”

Chris Skidmore, minister for the constitution, added that fraud was now the most prevalent threat in the UK.

“It is the people taking up this fight who are most critical to its success. These awards recognise the talent and achievements of those working to combat fraud and protect public services while ensuring taxpayer’s money is spent correctly.”

The winners were:

Excellence in fraud prevention: HM Revenue & Customs, The Alcohol Intelligence Coordination Centre

Excellence in raising fraud awareness: HM Land Registry, Counter Fraud Group Awareness Raising Campaign

Government counter fraud professional of the year: Nick Branigan, HM Revenue & Customs

Government counter fraud team of the year: GIAA Counter Fraud and Investigation’s Counter Fraud Investigation Team

Outstanding collaboration: The National Banking Protocol, a collaboration between Financial Fraud Action UK, National Trading Standard Scam Team, and the Metropolitan Police

Outstanding proactive detection: Leeds City Council, Internal Audit Team

     

Last night’s awards were the second following last year’s inaugural event.

The judging panel included Rachael Tiffen, head of the CIPFA Counter Fraud Centre, Charlie Adan, chief executive and head of paid service at the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames, Mark Cheeseman, deputy director of cross government fraud and error policy at the Cabinet Office and Donald Toon, director of prosperity (economic crime and cybercrime) at the National Crime Agency.

The latest edition of PF Perspectives considers the issue of public sector fraud and includes contributions from a range of practitioners and experts.

  • Vivienne Russell
    Vivienne Russell is managing editor of Public Finance magazine and publicfinance.co.uk

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