Working Together to Tackle Tenancy Fraud 11 April 2014, CIH Office London
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9.30 Registration and Refreshments 10.00 Chairs welcome Fleur Priest Stephens, Specialist Adviser, CIH 10.10 The Government response to tenancy fraud Graham Knapper, Policy Advisor, Affordable Housing Management & Standards Division, Department for Communities and Local Government This session will examine how the government have been responding to the problem of tenancy fraud and update delegates on the latest initiatives. 10.30 Tenancy Fraud context and challenges Alan Bryce, Head of Counter Fraud, Audit Commission With a 51% increase in detected social housing fraud in 2011/2012 this session will explore the extent of the problem and look at what housing providers can do to tackle the problem. Programme 11.30 Refreshments 11.50 Partnerships a successful approach to tackling tenancy fraud Shade Simmons, Investigations Manager, London Borough of Southwark Business Development Manager, Call Credit An effective approach to tackling tenancy involves creating and sustaining partnerships with a variety of local agencies and private sector organisations. Hear how these partnerships aid investigations and provide successful outcomes. 12.30 Lunch 13.15 Tools for tackling tenancy fraud data sharing Nick Jennings, Huntingdonshire District Council Lynne Shackley, Lead Policy Office, Information Commissioners Office Sharing data can be a useful tool in detecting tenancy fraud. However, in some cases, concerns about the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) prevent organisations from making the best use of the information available to them. This session will share best practice around data sharing procedures and protocols. 14.00 Refreshments 14.20 How to...prevent right to buy fraud and right to acquire fraud. Paul Hayes, Head of Housing Litigation, Lewis Silkin LLP This session will explore the steps providers can take to protect themselves from fraudulent right to buy fraud and right to acquire applications using examples of good practice from the industry 15.00 Tenant Involvement in tackling tenancy fraud Stephanie Toghill, Housing Investigations Manager, Camden Council
Hear how housing providers have been involving tenants in tackling tenancy fraud. Discover what incentives have been needed and how successful resident involvement initiatives have been. 15.30 Tackling Tenancy Fraud a legal update Anna Tkaczynska, Junior Barrister, Hardwicke With the Social Housing Fraud Act being introduced in October 2013 this session will provide an update on how - invited the new legislation is being implemented and also examine recent case law. 16.00 Chairs closing remarks * Programme may be subject to minor changes Programme Presentations for this event can be found at: www.cih.org/presentations/tenancyfraud2014
Fleur Priest Stephens, Specialist Adviser, CIH Fleur has been a Specialist Advisor in Tenancy Fraud with the CIH for the last 3 years. She has advised over 200 social housing providers on the best ways to effectively prevent and detect tenancy fraud and has written numerous good practice guides. Graham Knapper, Policy Advisor, Affordable Housing Management & Standards Division, Department for Communities and Local Government Speaker Biographies Graham has worked in housing policy for DCLG since 2007 and on social housing fraud since 2009. He led on the creation and commencement of the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013. Alan Bryce, Head of Counter Fraud, Audit Commission Alan is the Head of Counter Fraud at the Audit Commission with a specific responsibility for developing the organisation s strategic approach to the wider anti-fraud agenda. Alan is one of the principal author s of the Commission s Protecting the Public Purse - fighting fraud in local government national publication. He is also the national development lead for the Commission s "Changing Organisational Cultures" toolkit, which has received national recognition. Alan s work includes identifying and developing good practice in managing the risk of fraud in the public sector. Nationally he has contributed to the development of the British Standards Institute guidance on both whistle blowing and bribery, through membership of the review teams for both standards. Shade Simmons, Investigations Manager, London Borough of Southwark Shade Simmons has worked in social housing for over 20 years. She manages a dedicated team of 10 officers tackling tenancy fraud in an inner-london local authority managing 39,000 tenancies. Southwark has come across more challenging tenancy fraud in the last few years but has responded by successful partnership working and have adopted the use of advanced technology to detect and prevent fraud. Business Development Manager, Call Credit Charlotte has 8 years experience within the credit and marketing services industry. Previous roles include the Marketing team at Xerox UK Ltd; Client Manager in Call Credit Solutions; Account Director in Call Credit Marketing, prior to her Business Development Role in Call Credit Solutions, Public Sector. In the last 2 years Charlotte has helped shape Call Credit s Fraud, Revenues & Housing proposition for local government through working closely with Public Sector organisations, delivering key results such as efficiencies in fraud identification, increased collection rates and gateway fraud prevention. Nick Jennings, Huntingdonshire District Council Nick has worked in the welfare system for over 30 years and from the 1990 s in the local government fraud arena. Currently employed as the Corporate Fraud Manager at Huntingdonshire District Council, Nick is an LGA rep on the DWP Security Operations Group and a member of the TFF Executive Committee.
Lynne Shackley, Lead Policy Office, Information Commissioners Office Lynne has been with the Information Commissioner s Office for over 10 years. She has been a caseworker and casework team manager and has worked on policy matters offering advice and guidance to central government departments including the Department of Education and the DWP as well as police forces, schools and individual local authorities. Lynne is now a Lead Policy Officer in the Strategic Liaison Department's Public Services Team. Paul Hayes, Head of Housing Litigation, Lewis Silkin LLP Speaker Biographies Paul is Head of the Housing Litigation Team at Lewis Silkin solicitors. His focus is advising registered providers of social housing, housing co-operatives, private rented sector landlords on all aspects of housing management, including tenancy fraud, non-occupation, sub-letting, antisocial behaviour, nuisance, disrepair, advising on and drafting policies, procedures and all forms of tenure. Stephanie Toghill, Housing Investigations Manager, Camden Council Having worked in social housing for nearly 15 years - 7 specifically in tenancy fraud - Stephanie manages the specialist Housing Investigations Team at the London Borough of Camden. Recent successful initiatives include a Key Amnesty and a Camden Tenancy Fraud forum to encourage partnership working with RSLs that operate within the borough. The team is recognised for its consistent good practice in this area and high performance recovering on average 100 properties every year. Stephanie also spent 2 years working with the Chartered Institute of Housing as part of the successful MBUS team, gathering good practice and providing guidance to social housing providers enabling them to make better use of their stock through tackling tenancy fraud, under occupation and Welfare Reform. During this time, Stephanie helped to establish the Tenancy Fraud Forum, a national organisation bringing social landlords together to combat tenancy fraud. Stephanie has continued her work with the Tenancy Fraud Forum which has over 15 regional hubs and 500+ members. Anna Tkaczynska, Junior Barrister, Hardwicke Anna joined Hardwicke in 2011 and is developing a broad practice in all areas of Chambers work. She has a particular interest in social housing, education and local government law.
Attendance List Forename Surname Job Title Organisation Delegate Type Joanne Carter Anit-social Behaviour Manager A2 Dominion Group Delegate A2 Dominion Housing Group Scott Carn Risk & Compliance Manager Delegate Business Assurance Rachel Thomas Consultant Accent Group Ltd Delegate Alan Bryce Head of Counter Fraud Audit Commission Speaker Liz Berridge Housing Services Officer Stephanie Fleur Charlotte Cambs HIA Cambridge City Council Delegate Housing Investifations Toghill Manager Camden Council Speaker Priest Stephens Specialist Adviser CIH Speaker Business Development Manager Coactiva Aspiren Delegate Goff Shade Simmons Investigations Manager Coactiva Aspiren Delegate Graham Knapper Policy Advisor DCLG Speaker Anna Tkaczunska Junior Barrister Hardwicke Speaker Nick Jennings Huntingdonshire Disrict Council Speaker Lynne Shackley Lead Policy Officer Information Commissioners Office Speaker Len Dalrymple Project Officer Leathermarket JMB Co. Ltd Delegate Mel Harris Senior Tenancy Management Officer Leicester City Council Delegate Paul Hayes Head of Housing Litigation Lewis Silkin LLP Speaker Shade Simmons Investigations Manager London Borough of Southward Speaker Sam McManus Policy Coordinator One Housing Group Delegate Alex Walton New Tenancy Advisor Peaks & Plains Housing Trust Delegate Debra Gilbert Office Manager Slough Borough Council Delegate Nick Jermyn Tenacy Enforcement Officer Stroud District Council Delegate Garry Turner Fraud Manager Three Rivers District Council Delegate Nicholas Coker Enforcement Officer Thurrock Borough Council Delegate Louisa Moss Private Housing Manager Thurrock Council Delegate Martyn Ruscoe In house Solicitor Trident Housing Association Delegate John Stalley Senior Investigations Officer Wealden District Council Delegate