Corporate anti-fraud privacy notice

The Council’s corporate anti-fraud team (CAFT) investigates a broad range of potential issues including:

• housing and tenancy fraud (for example sub-letting, false right to buy applications and false applications for succession of tenancy)
• corruption and bribery within the procurement process
• failure to disclose or providing false information for recruitment purposes
• unauthorised changes to payroll information
• abuse of council tax and commercial rates discounts
• abuse of the disability blue badge scheme
• abuse by staff of overtime or flexi-time scheme
• other offences of fraud or theft against the Council.

Please complete the online referral form with as much detail as you have available.

You can refer is anonymously and any information you provide will stay confidential. We may need to work with other agencies to investigate and not all referrals lead to an investigation.

The DWP have taken over responsibility for investigating Housing Benefit fraud, and if your referral relates to or has elements of this, you will need to contact the DWP National Benefit Fraud Helpline by the following methods:

Helpline: 0800 854 4400 (textphone 0800 320 0512)

Website: GOV.UK Report Benefit Fraud

Post: NBFH, PO Box 224, Preston, PR1 1GP

Gemma Young
Assistant Director Internal Audit and Anti-Fraud Shared Service
Telephone: 020 8496 4620
Email: Gemma.young@walthamforest.gov.uk

Kevin Campbell-Scott
Deputy Head of Internal Audit and Anti-Fraud
Telephone: 020 8496 4487
Email: Kevin.campbell-scott@walthamforest.gov.uk

Jamie Branch
Corporate Anti-Fraud Manager
Telephone: 020 8496 4860
Email: jamie.branch@walthamforest.gov.uk

The Corporate Anti-Fraud Team are required legally under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) to ensure that a transcript of interviews conducted with suspects under caution is kept securely and cannot be tampered with in any way. 

The Council records video and audio of interviews in line with the PACE Revised Code of Practice on audio recording interviews with suspects and the Revised Code of Practice on visual recording with sound of interviews with suspects.

The personal information we have collected during the course of the investigation interview will be used to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct.

Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and your data protection rights, can be found on our website: how to report fraud.

For further information on data matching at this authority contact Kevin Campbell-Scott on 020 8496 4487 or email kevin.campbell-scott@walthamforest.gov.uk

The CAFT team may collect a wide variety of information from a range of sources, including, but not limited to:

• Personal, such as name, date of birth, address
• Employment, for example, national insurance number, employer details and history, next of kin, sickness records
• Financial details, such as bank account information, mortgage accounts, pensions, credit history
• Health information gathered to assess eligibility for benefits
• Information gathered during the course of an investigation or proactive exercise
• Documentary evidence was provided in order to access council services.
• Any relevant video recording, audio recordings, or images

The Corporate Anti-Fraud Team uses personal information we have collected from you to detect and prevent fraud, error, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. 

The CAFT team will only process personal information that is appropriate and proportionate to enable us to carry out the Council’s public task.  This is in accordance with legal obligations under the following legislation:

• The Local Government Acts
• Human Rights Act 1998
• Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
• Investigatory Powers Act 2016
• Criminal Procedures and Investigations Act 1996
• Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
• Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Detection of Fraud and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013.
• Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013
• Social Security Administration Act 1992
• Serious Crime Act 2007
• Digital Economy Act 2017
• Welfare Reform Act 2012
• Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992
• Housing Benefit Regulations 2006
• Housing Acts
• The Fraud Act 2006
• The Theft Acts
• Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1987
• Computer Misuse Act 1990
• Identity Card Act 2006
• Welfare Reform Act 2012
• Housing Acts
• Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
• Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Detection of Fraud and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013
• Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act (Power to Require Information) (England) Regulations 2014

We have a statutory obligation to collect, process, and share personal or sensitive personal information without consent, with our partners such as the NHS, housing associations, schools, central government, such as DWP, HMRC, Home Office, Department Of Education, Department of Health, other councils, CIFAS (the Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System), an independent, not-for-profit organisation that works to prevent fraud, and law enforcement agencies such as the Police and the Crown prosecution service, for the following purposes:

• Health and wellbeing and public health
• Safeguarding vulnerable adults and children
• The prevention and detection of crime
• The assessment of any tax or duty
• collection of debt
• If we are required to do so by any court or law
• prevention of fraud
• The national fraud initiative
• Protect you or other individuals from serious harm
• Protect public funds
• Public safety and law enforcement
• Criminal or civil prosecution of offenders
• National security

We may also share your information with our partners to deliver national government programmes and initiatives. We may share with: 

• NHS (GPs, hospital, mental health, CCGs etc.)
• schools
• Voluntary sectors
• Central government
• DWP
• Police
• Other Councils
• Housing Associations

In most cases, this will be done where there is a lawful basis under the conditions set out in the Data Protection Legislation.

We review our retention periods of the information we hold about you on a regular basis.  We are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory obligations.

We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as it is necessary for the relevant activity or service that we provide to you, or as required by law.

Interview transcripts will be retained for a period that is proportionate to the investigation outcome. For example, if the case is closed with no further action then the transcript will be destroyed 1 year after the closure date. If the suspect is given a sanction such as being prosecuted then we legally have to retain all information relating to the investigation for 7 years.