Bath Council (BANES) staff fraud probe dumped by police

A five-month investigation into allegations of fraud by staff in the building and engineering department of Bath & North East Somerset (BANES) Council has been dropped by police.

Raids were carried out at council offices in December by Avon and Somerset Constabulary and boxes of paperwork were removed for further examination as part of an investigation into alleged crimes dating back to 2002.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary confirmed it is taking no action in relation to council employees.

BANES said no disciplinary action has been taken against any of its staff as a result of the investigation.

Peter Rowntree, strategic director for BANES, said an internal investigation into the allegations had failed to find any evidence of a conspiracy to defraud the council.

However, he did add that the investigation had highlighted some areas where procedures could be improved.

[Contract Journal, 1 June 2006, p. 2]