Shropshire Council to decide whether to set up dedicated fraud team
Shropshire Council is due to decide whether to set up a dedicated fraud team in March after a Reform UK councillor claimed there had been “little progress.”
Last September, the main opposition party said it was “deeply alarmed” by the glaring weaknesses in the council’s fraud prevention measures, and that taxpayer money was being left “dangerously exposed.”
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Councillor Harry Hancock-Davies, a Reform UK member who represents Battlefield, therefore proposed a motion at a September 25 full council meeting asking for a specialised, properly funded fraud investigation team to be established.
However, speaking at a Cabinet meeting on January 21, Cllr Hancock-Davies said little progress had been brought forward since then. He therefore asked if Cabinet can confirm whether members are committed to commissioning a task and finish group to expore the fraud investigation options that were brought forward to the Audit and Governance Committee in November.
Councillor Roger Evans, portfolio holder for finance, said he has not yet seen the minutes from the audit meeting, but has been informed a report is being prepared to be added to the forward plan for a Cabinet meeting in March.
“It will be a matter for Cabinet to decide at that point whether to set up, as I again understand it, a requested task and finish group,” said Cllr Evans, adding that the number of staff employed by the council in procurement, which Cllr Hancock-Davies particularly highlighted, is to be increased.
