Organisational change is an essential feature of the public sector as it seeks to improve and become more efficient. Nevertheless, it is a widely accepted principle that the risk of fraud escalates in periods of significant change. The Northern Ireland (NI) public sector is currently in the middle of a period of unprecedented change.
The Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) has published a good practice guide on 'Managing Fraud Risk in a Changing Environment'. The Guide highlights that as new public sector organisations are created, or formed through a process of merger, a number of key fraud risks may emerge, for example:
roles and responsibilities may be unclear or inadequately defined;
governance arrangements may not operate effectively;
staff reductions may lead to weakened control systems due to inadequate segregation of duties;
staff losses on a significant scale may mean that key skills are lost; and
supervisory checks may be overlooked.
The Guide includes detailed self-assessment checklists at the end of each section, to help organisations measure how well they are preventing, detecting and responding to fraud.
There is no fee payable for this event. Light refreshments will be available at the start of the session.
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