I have already blogged about a £52k fraud against West Suffolk Council which came to light in November.

I have asked a number of questions both verbally and in writing to the Leader of the Council, Cliff Waterman and to senior officers. As the leader of the largest political party at West Suffolk Council not getting answers to such serious questions is just not good enough and is frankly an insult to democracy. Remember, this fraud represents a half of one percent of a council tax rise.

The less I am told the more I am concerned. What happened to transparency?

I asked the questions on the following dates and have never received any answers to my questions:

Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee 23rd November 2023

Cabinet 5th December 2023

Full Council 19th December 2023

Today 15th January 2024 and still no answers.

I asked a number of questions about the £52k fraud against West Suffolk Council. My questions were:

1. In the audit paper to PASC whilst a fraud was mentioned there was no mention of the amount. Was this being suppressed for any reason and by whom?

2. Was anyone from the council involved in the fraud?

3. What are the details of the fraud?

4. Were the police informed and were they involved in the investigation. If not, why not?

5. Was this human error or a process failing?

6. Have there been any consequences for any staff members (extra training, disciplinary etc)?

7. When did the fraud take place?

8. Has the amount been written off?

9. Given the scale and nature of the fraud I believe that all councillors should be made aware of what has happened together with all the details. Why has this not happened?

10. At PASC we identified that the risk register does not appear to be working correctly. Was this a contributory factor in this fraud?

I will be writing to the Chief Exec to get some answers!!!