To note and approve the proposed amendments to the policies listed in the report.

Catherine Hickman explained that the council already had a number of anti-fraud and corruption policies in place but it was good corporate governance for these to be refreshed on a regular basis to ensure that they were current and incorporated the latest legislation. In addition, it was a key responsibility of the Committee to oversee the council’s anti-fraud and anti-corruption arrangements. There were a total of six policies and the changes that had been proposed were mostly administrative in nature. The Committee was being asked to note and approve the changes, while it was also important for councillors and officers to be aware of the policies that were in place. Training would also take place to raise awareness with officers and Members, including briefings in the ‘Borough Bulletin’ and in Member updates. Catherine Hickman clarified for the Committee that in the whistleblowing policy, there was a charity mentioned called ‘Public Concern at Work’. This was an organisation that employees could go to if they felt they had exhausted all avenues to raise their concerns within the council. The organisation had recently changed its name to ‘Prevent’ and this had been amended in the policy. Once the policies had been approved, they would be published on the RBWM website.

The Chairman asked how often the policies were refreshed.

Catherine Hickman said that they were originally reviewed annually, but it had previously been decided to refresh them only when significant changes needed to be made.

Mr Hill had registered to speak on the item. He had noted that the contact details in the whistleblowing policy were not correct on the previous policy for the external auditors and the impact that this could have had on the CIPFA report. Mr Hill thanked officers for ensuring that the policies were carefully reviewed going forward.

Adele Taylor made a reassurance that once the error had been noticed it was changed on the council’s internal systems. There was communication between Deloitte and KMPG, the previous auditors, to make sure that any queries were dealt with.

Councillor Sharpe said that these policies were very important and that it was good to see that they had been refreshed. He asked how staff were informed of these policies along with available training which could help them.

Catherine Hickman said that awareness was essential and once the policies had been approved, they would be published on the internal staff intranet. Catherine Hickman said that she would discuss how best to deliver the training with the Director of Resources and the Head of Finance.

Adele Taylor said that these policies were something that she took very seriously, particularly in areas where there was a higher risk of fraud.

A named vote was taken on the recommendation listed in the report.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Audit and Governance Committee noted the contents of the report and:

i)             Agreed the proposed amendments to the Anti-Fraud and Anti-Corruption Policy, Anti Money Laundering Policy, Prosecutions and Sanctions Policy, Anti Bribery Policy, the Acquisition of Communications Data and Use of Covert Surveillance and Covert Human Intelligence Sources Policy and the Whistleblowing (Raising Concerns at Work) Policy.