Sheffield Council employees sacked as fraud increases including theft and excessive internet use during work

Cases were from all portfolios and included theft of cash or assets, falsification of timesheets, financial abuse of service users, excessive use of the internet during work time and behaviour breaching the Code of Conduct.

Officers added: “As the council has such a large workforce covering a large number of services there will always be a range of issues.

“The types of frauds identified within the council mirror those found nationally. South Yorkshire Police were notified and involved where appropriate. Following investigation, appropriate sanctions were applied where the issues were found to be proven. This resulted in several dismissals and resignations. In some cases, it was also found that there was no or insufficient evidence of fraud for action to be taken.”

This was revealed in a report on the council’s latest fraud audit prepared for the the audit and standards committee which met recently.

In the report, officers said the council had updated its fraud policies for the first time since 2018.

They added: “The council has a full suite of policies, which have been fully revised and ensure that the council has in place adequate governance arrangements for the prevention, detection and prosecution of fraud against the council. This potential fraud may be covered by employees and the wider general public. These policies were last submitted to the committee in full in 2018 and have been updated for changes in legislation etc.”