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Anti-fraud & Corruption Policy

A financial irregularity in local government terms usually means any act or omission by an employee or a third party, which has or could result in a loss to the Council of its assets, or any other non-Council asset in the trust of an employee.
Assets could include cash, stores, property, equipment, information, etc.
It could also mean the unauthorised use of the Council's resources for personal gain without necessarily any direct loss to the Council; or, alternatively, any breach of Financial Regulations.
For the purpose of this strategy document, the term “financial irregularity” should also include any theft of personal or other items, whilst held on DCC premises.
An irregularity could be the result of criminal or fraudulent activities or could be just sheer carelessness or incompetence on the part of an employee resulting in the records, stores, funds, etc. being in a state that either makes it difficult to determine whether all assets have been accounted for or makes it easy for someone else to misappropriate.
If a financial irregularity is established, this will involve the determination of what has occurred and to recommend action to be taken, such as a complaint to the Police or instigation of an investigation, which may result in disciplinary action. This process will normally lead to one of the following courses of action being taken against an employee:

Alternatively, the employee may offer to resign in which case the investigating officers will need to consider whether there are any employment issues or other matters affecting this position.
The HR personnel manuals describe the process to be followed by officers when confronted with this type of situation.