Press Release - 2005-06 Community Fund Financial
Statements – follow up report on actions taken by the Fund
following the discovery of irregular grant applications in
September 2004
28 November 2006
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to
Parliament today that he had given an unqualified opinion on the
2005-06 Community Fund’s accounts. Last year, Sir John had
qualified his opinion on the 2004-05 accounts on the grounds that
the Fund’s systems did not include adequate checks to identify
potential fraudulent applications.
Today, Sir John reported that he had considered the controls the
Fund now had in place for assessing and monitoring grant
applications and reviewed whether they operated effectively in
practice, in coming to his audit opinion.
The Community Fund first identified possible fraud in grant
applications in September 2004. The Fund now considers that around
£1 million in grants under the Awards for All programme were the
subject of fraud, and intends to write this off. The Fund also
considers an additional £510,000 in grants under the main grant
programmes was fraudulently obtained, with another £1.6 million
thought to be in breach of grant conditions. The Fund is still
considering what action to take in cases where a breach of grant
conditions has been identified.
The Fund has taken measures to
improve fraud controls, including system alerts in response to
multiple applications. Sir John today recommends further steps
which can be taken, including improvements to the sampling of
grants selected for a visit and better analysis of the information
the Fund already collect.
Sir John Bourn said
today:
"The Community Fund have
made progress in improving their controls aimed at ensuring lottery
money is spent on the causes for which it was intended, but there
is more still to do to reduce the risk of loss through fraud. When
grants are fraudulently obtained, the real losers are the voluntary
and charitable groups who could have put this money to good
use."
Notes for Editors
- The Big Lottery fund is due to take over the role of the
Community Fund, as well as the New Opportunities Fund, over the
coming months.
- Press notices are available on the NAO website, which is at
www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained from The Stationery
Office on 0845 702 3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office which employs some 850 staff. He
and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 64/06
All enquiries to Neil Gadhok, NAO Press Office:
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