Rother District Council is committed to protecting public funds and minimising losses to fraud and corruption.

We strive to ensure that money intended for services we provide is not lost to fraud. We believe that fraud committed against the Council means less money to spend on services for Rother people. We therefore have a number of measures in place to minimise the risk of fraud and corruption including:

  • Clear codes of conduct for officers and elected Members;
  • Clear roles and responsibilities for preventing and detecting fraud;
  • Effective Procurement Procedure Rules, Financial Procedure Rules and operational procedures including a sound system of internal check commensurate with the level of risk;
  • The presence of an in-house Internal Audit team;
  • An anonymous reporting mechanism for ​Benefit Fraud;
  • A Whistleblowing procedure for all other types of fraud, corruption and malpractice;
  • Other policies and procedures to help raise awareness of fraud and corruption issues and to promote their prevention, detection and investigation. These documents are known collectively as the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Framework;
  • Participation in the National Fraud Initiative data matching exercises.

What is fraud and corruption?

Fraud can cover a range of offences including, theft, forgery, false representation, false accounting, misappropriation, and collusion.

Corruption arises when individuals derive benefits, which influence or change the way they conduct their duties and responsibilities in relation to the business of the Council.

How do we respond?

The Council has Financial Procedure Rules which require that the Chief Executive or Audit Manager is notified immediately about any suspected financial irregularities so that they may be investigated. These matters are taken seriously and additional action, such as disciplinary proceedings and/or prosecution, will be taken where evidence of offences is found.

A Fraud Response Plan has been developed to ensure incidents are dealt with in a timely and effective manner.

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