WALTHAM FOREST: Council 'best on staff screening' (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

WALTHAM FOREST: Council 'best on staff screening'

9:34am Tuesday 7th July 2009

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WALTHAM Forest council is removing recruiting agencies from its 'preferred suppliers' list for repeatedly putting forward staff who fail screening.

Speaking at the launch of Protecting Employers from Insider Threats (PREFIT) Rachael Tiffen, chief internal auditor and anti-fraud officer for the council, said: “The biggest number of those who fail our screening are agency staff.”

She added: “I decided that it wasn’t good enough for us to just let these individuals slip through the net.

“Come last year, of the 833 people we vetted there was only a three pre cent failure rate.”

And Waltham Forest council is also carrying out more stringent checks than many other local authorities, according to cabinet member for finance and resources Cllr John Macklin.

He said: “The Council’s vetting process is extremely thorough and we are in fact viewed as being at the forefront of public sector vetting by other councils.

“Waltham Forest is perhaps the only local authority in the country to vet all of its workers – including agency staff – and we are extremely proud of this.

“Our aim is to make sure that everyone who works for the council, and therefore Waltham Forest’s 225,000 residents, is deserving of our trust and employment.”

This includes checks on identification, where candidates live, eligibility to work in the UK, and work and qualifications history.

From January to December last year, a total number of 833 staff were vetted, including agency and permanent staff.

Of these, a total of 25, or three per cent, were classified as a 'problem'.

A total of six people had 'improper benefit claim issues', eight had no right to work in the UK, two had unspent convictions, six had false employment histories and three had housing fraud issues.

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