A Fraud Investigation Conference

Local Authority Action on Fraud – The Role of Prosecution

Wednesday June 30th 2004 
Local Government House, Central London

Proposed changes to the way fraud is prosecuted have been set out in the White Paper "Justice for All" as well as other Governmental publications. Now that new legislation is coming into effect Local Authorities need to ensure that their fraud prosecutions meet the requirements of the courts and prosecuting bodies. Alongside this, the Government encourages Local Authorities and Government Departments to prosecute fraud where public funds are involved. The importance given to this is illustrated by the inclusion of the evaluation of prosecution policies as part of the Benefits CPA. 

In the light of this, and the greater use within the criminal justice system of alternatives to prosecution, local authorities need to evaluate their use of prosecution for fraud. To assist authorities, this one day conference focuses on the key issues surrounding local authority prosecution for fraud, and the application of other sanctions, and provides a useful national forum to examine the often contradictory objectives facing authorities.

In examining the use of prosecution, the conference will look at local authority prosecution policies, good practices and examples of success from different Local Authority areas