Council officers dealing with fraud and corruption

A SENIOR group of Dumfries and Galloway Council officials are working behind the scenes to tackle fraud and corruption.

And it has emerged that they dealt with at least one concluded case in the past year.

Details of the Integrity Group’s annual activities are set to be presented to the audit, risk and scrutiny committee today, shining a light on a body that most residents will never have heard of.

The group, made up of senior officers from across the council, was established to provide strategic oversight of the local authority’s anti-fraud and anti-corruption efforts.

Its membership includes the assistant director of governance and human resources, the chief financial officer, the internal audit manager, the procurement and commissioning manager, and the human resources manager.

The Integrity Group ensures that “independent investigation of potential fraud and corruption is undertaken timeously and completely” and that “any required control improvements, as a direct result of a fraud incident or arising from fraud information from elsewhere, are implemented.”

Over the course of 2025-26, the group met regularly to consider any concluded cases.

The report reveals that one concluded case was considered during the year, with the group examining “relevant improvement actions which were being taken to manage petty cash.”

The report gives little away on the specifics of that case, however training is ongoing to combat fraud within the local authority.

In November 2025 Police Scotland delivered a training session on Serious Organised Crime Awareness to elected members. The session covered the threat posed by serious organised crime, as well as organisational and individual vulnerabilities.

Training has also been rolled out more broadly across the council, in strategic, investigative, and operational areas.

Staff have learned about awareness raising and how to report concerns; and investigation practices across different types of inquiry.

An anti-fraud and anti-corruption policy is also being refreshed.