Freedom of Information - Corporate Investigations

What Corporate Investigation statistics are published on this page?

Please see the table below for the latest statistics. These figures are also shown in the Excel document attached to this page should you need to download them.

Corporate Investigations statistics for the financial year 2022 to 2023

Statistic	Number
Number of referrals received	366
Number of referrals accepted for investigation	231
Level 1 sanctions achieved	42
Level 2 sanctions achieved	65

This information will be published annually and will next be updated in April 2024.

Glossary of terms

Sanctions

Sanctions is the term used to describe penalties given to people who have committed fraud. They are recorded in two ways:

Level 1 sanctions: 

• prosecution - the council will normally only prosecute a person (ie take them to court) if all relevant criteria has been met
• dismissal / resignation (employee deemed to have committed gross misconduct and relieved of their duties
• property recovered (Registered Social Landlord property returned to the market after fraudulent tenancy terminated)
• financial penalty (an alternative to prosecution). If the person fails to respond to this offer, or they do not accept it, the council will consider starting criminal proceedings

Level 2 sanctions: 

• caution (an alternative to prosecution). If this is not accepted or the person fails to respond to invitations to be offered such a sanction, then the council will consider instituting criminal proceedings
• warning letter (not enough evidence to prove fraud but continued suspicions or preventative measure)
• disciplinary action (employee no longer deemed suitable to hold their post therefore demoted or given a warning)

Formal cautions

This is an alternative to prosecution. If this is not accepted or the person fails to respond to invitations to be offered such a sanction, then the council will consider instituting criminal proceedings.

Financial penalty

This is also an alternative to prosecution. If the person fails to respond to this offer, or they do not accept it, the council will consider starting criminal proceedings.

Prosecution

The council will normally only prosecute a person (take them to court) if all relevant criteria have been met.

Disciplinary action

If it is a council employee who has committed the offence, they may face disciplinary action.