Council duty to protect public funds

9.1    The council has a duty to protect the public funds that it administers.

Debt recovery

9.2    The council will continue to meet needs for care and support if an adult fails to pay the assessed amount (where relevant) into the payment card account but the council:

• will follow its usual debt recovery procedures to recover the debt to the council
• may suspend or end direct payments either permanently or temporarily

Fraud and misuse of public funds

9.3    Suspected concerns about fraud, including fraud committed against other public bodies, will be reported to the council’s Internal Audit Investigation Team for investigation which may lead to:

• information sharing between the council and other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds such as H.M. Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions, and/or
• criminal prosecution