Preventable Loss (Hansard, 26 February 1990)

§ Mr. Cope

Each Department of the Northern Ireland Civil Service reports losses borne on its voted moneys in a losses statement appended to the end of the relevant appropriation account. These accounts are certified and reported to Parliament by the Comptroller and Auditor-General (Northern Ireland). The 1988–89 volume of the Northern Ireland Appropriation Accounts (HC2) was printed on 4 December 1989. Departments are obliged to report all losses above a prescribed threshold to the Department of Finance and Personnel.

In addition, Northern Ireland Departments are required to notify the Treasury Officer of Accounts of the Department of Finance and Personnel and the Comptroller and Auditor General (Northern Ireland) of all discovered fraud (including computer frauds) proven or suspected within a Department or non-departmental public body which are perpetrated by members of its own staff, or members of the public or by contractors.

For the year 1988–89 the following were reported:

	Number of cases	Loss £	Recovered £
Internal fraud (by staff)	12	30,638	1,380
External fraud (non-staff)	21	78,676	9,542

Also, for the year ending 31 December 1988 the Department of Health and Social Services (Northern Ireland) reported 3,757 cases of fraudulent claims for various benefits which resulted in a total payment of £621,109.

The Northern Ireland Office does not prepare assessments on the extent of preventable loss arising from theft or misappropriation. Financial controls operate throughout the Department to ensure, as far as is reasonably possible, that loss arising from theft or misappropriation is prevented. In addition the Department's internal audit unit provides an assurance as to the adequacy, effectiveness and application of existing financial controls. There were no cases of fraud reported during the 1988–89 financial year. Financial controls would be reassessed in the light of evidence of losses from theft or misappropriation.