Our Team
Our management team
Alex Bailey
Resource, Client and Technical Manager
Alex was enticed from the Revenues and Benefits Team when the Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit became permanent in 2017. Alex has worked in Local Government since 2004 and brings her knowledge and expertise to her wide-ranging role, which includes managing the Intelligence and Support Team.
Alex works behind the scenes to ensure the smooth running of the Unit. She serves as the systems administrator for our case management system, produces statistics for Emma’s reports, oversees billing and invoicing, and manages time-recording and delivery to the partner Councils and our clients. She is the National Fraud Initiative co-ordinator for seven councils and oversees the Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit’s operational delivery in this area.
Emma Cathcart
Assistant Director
From 2004, Emma was employed as a Benefit Fraud Investigator prior to the transfer of Housing Benefit investigation to the Department for Work and Pensions. Not wishing to jump ship, and following a successful bid for funding in 2015, Emma led the project to develop a corporate counter fraud service that supports all areas of Local Government. Working with Kate to create a shared service across five councils, the team became permanent from April 2017.
Emma leads the ongoing expansion of the service, navigating legalities, regulations, and Local Government red tape to ensure the Unit provides a service that is professional, resilient, and cost effective. The Partnership now comprises of six councils with several additional client councils and social housing providers. The team delivers counter fraud prevention and detection activities, and enforcement support in a specialist area that had seen little investment for many years.
She spends her days managing resourcing, budgets, governance and writing vast numbers of reports whilst campaigning to promote counter fraud provision across Local Government.
Kate Seeley
Head of Service
Kate worked as a Benefit Fraud Investigator for many years before jumping at the chance to be part of a pilot project to establish a corporate counter fraud service for a partnership of councils. Funded by the DCLG, the pilot focused on tenancy and housing fraud, internal fraud, and other previously overlooked services such as business rates. The pilot proved successful, and in 2017 the team became a permanent shared service.
Kate manages the Investigation Teams and is responsible for the service’s operational delivery. She allocates and oversees different work streams, reviews cases and delivery, advises on process and legislation, and very occasionally gets to supervise or assist on an interesting case. Kate also works closely with the team when they are undertaking internal and disciplinary investigations to identify any internal control risk. She then works with corporate management and Internal Audit to improve processes and mitigate risk. Like Emma, Kate misses the challenging and diverse nature of operational work and interviewing under caution.
Kate supports Emma with policy writing and review, attending audit or governance meetings, drafting and implementation of annual service plans, and the delivering training to staff and Councillors.
The Team
We have career grade staffing posts which make up the Investigation and Enforcement team.
Intelligence and Support Officers
Accredited or working towards accreditation as Counter Fraud Technicians, Intelligence and Support Officers undertake verification and initial intelligence gathering on the reactive caseload and manage various large-scale data matching exercises, such as the National Fraud Initiative run by the Cabinet Office. They serve as the single point of contact for the Department of Work and Pensions for our partner councils, facilitating the exchange of information and triaging all referrals that come into the service.
Investigation and Enforcement Officers
Accredited or working towards accreditation as a Counter Fraud Specialist, the Investigation and Enforcement Officer position is a hybrid role which assists the Intelligence and Support Officers in their delivery while also being responsible for less complex reactive investigations and regulatory enforcement cases.
Senior Investigation and Enforcement Officers
Accredited Counter Fraud Specialists or working toward the accreditation, the Senior Investigation and Enforcement Officers come from a variety of enforcement backgrounds, including the Police, Military Police, DWP, Insolvency Service, and Local Government. All were employed for their experience and expertise in criminal investigations. The team is responsible for reactive fraud investigations, internal disciplinary/code of conduct investigations, and enforcement caseloads, as well as proactive fraud drives across the partnership. Dependent on experience and specialist knowledge there are opportunities to progress to Principal Investigation and Enforcement Officer.