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Councillors

Answer

This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission, and I will ask the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 15 June 2009:"Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me for reply.""Data on local councillors has been collected since 1998. During each cycle of the National Fraud Initiative, local authorities have been required to submit payroll data that includes salaries, wages and members allowances.""Prior to 1998 and based on known frauds reported by audited bodies, pilot exercises were run to determine the value of data matching payroll within NFI. The pilot data was used to provide anomalies to audited bodies and as a result of their investigations they detected significant numbers of payroll and housing benefit frauds by public sector employees and elected members. Consequently payroll became a core element of the data used in NFI. The long standing principle of running pilots to assess the fraud risk in a dataset is enshrined in the Commission's Code of Data Matching Practice laid before Parliament in July 2008.""Individual case studies and the total of frauds detected have been reported in the NFI national reports published at the end of each exercise and many have been covered by local and national media particularly where custodial sentences have resulted. Many local authorities have rightly adopted a zero tolerance approach to fraud and it is important that this is as robust with staff and elected members as it is with members of the public.""A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard."

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

494 c17W; 280013

Session

2008-09

Related items

Councillors
Monday, 20 April 2009
Written questions
House of Commons

Subjects

Councillors Fraud

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk