Counter Fraud, Anti-Corruption and Bribery Statement

Statement 

It is our statement to conduct all of our business in an honest and ethical manner. We take a zero-tolerance approach to fraud, bribery and corruption and we are committed to acting professionally, fairly and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships wherever we operate and in implementing and enforcing effective systems to counter bribery. 

We will uphold all laws relevant to countering fraud, bribery and corruption. However, we remain bound by the laws of the UK, including the Bribery Act 2010, in respect of our conduct both at home and abroad.

The purpose of this statement is to:

(a) set out our responsibilities and of those working for us, in observing and upholding our position on bribery and corruption; and

(b) to provide information and guidance to those working for us on how to recognise and deal with bribery and corruption issues.

Fraud, bribery and corruption are punishable for individuals by up to ten years’ imprisonment and if we are found to have taken part in corruption, we could face an unlimited fine, be excluded from tendering for public contracts and face damage to our reputation. We therefore take our legal responsibilities very seriously and we have conducted a risk assessment to identify any key areas which may potentially pose a particular risk to our organisation.

In this statement, third party means any individual or organisation you come into contact with during the course of your work for us, and includes actual and potential clients, customers, suppliers, distributors, business contacts, agents, advisers and local government and public bodies, including their advisors, representatives and officials, politicians and political parties.

Who is covered by the statement?

This statement applies to all individuals working at all levels (whether permanent, fixed-term or temporary), consultants, contractors, trainees, seconded staff, casual workers and agency staff, volunteers, interns, agents, sponsors, or any other person associated with us, or any of our subsidiaries or their employees, wherever located (collectively referred to as workers in this statement).

What is fraud? 

Fraud is a deliberate intent to acquire money or goods dishonestly through the falsification of records or documents.  This includes the deliberate changing of financial statements or other records by either a member of the public, someone who works for -or is sub-contracted to work for- Quinn’s Training Services. 

The Fraud Act 2006 defines three classes of fraud:

• Fraud by false representation
• Fraud by failing to disclose information
• Fraud by abuse of position

In all three classes of fraud, the Fraud Action 2006 requires that for an offence to have occurred, the person must have acted dishonestly, and that they have acted with the intent of making gain for themselves or anyone else, or inflicting loss (or risk of loss) on another. 

The criminal act is the attempt to deceive, and attempted fraud is therefore treated as seriously as accomplished fraud.  

Quinn’s Training Services Ltd are committed to promoting a counter fraud culture and will engage all employees in combatting fraud.  This policy will allow employees to easily identify aspects of fraud, as well as share good practice to combat it. 

What is bribery?

A bribe is an inducement or reward offered, promised or provided in order to gain any commercial, contractual, regulatory or personal advantage.

Examples: Offering a bribe You offer a potential client tickets to a major sporting event, but only if they agree to do business with us. This would be an offence as you are making the offer to gain a commercial and contractual advantage. We may also be found to have committed an offence because the offer has been made to obtain business for us.  Receiving a bribe A supplier gives your nephew a job but makes it clear that in return they expect you to use your influence in our organisation to ensure we continue to do business with them. It is an offence for a supplier to make such an offer.  It would be an offence for you to accept the offer as you would be doing so to gain a personal advantage.

Gifts and hospitality

This statement does not prohibit normal and appropriate hospitality (given and received) to or from third parties.

The giving or receipt of gifts is not prohibited, if the following requirements are met:

• it is not made with the intention of influencing a third party to obtain or retain business or a business advantage, or to reward the provision or retention of business or a business advantage, or in explicit or implicit exchange for favours or benefits;
• it complies with local law;
• it is given in our name, not in your name;
• it is appropriate in the circumstances. For example, in the UK it is customary for small gifts to be given at Christmas time;
• taking into account the reason for the gift, it is of an appropriate type and value and given at an appropriate time;
• it is given openly, not secretly; and
• gifts should not be offered to, or accepted from, local government officials or representatives, or politicians or political parties, without the prior approval of the Director.

We appreciate that the practice of giving business gifts varies and what may be normal and acceptable in one region may not be in another. The test to be applied is whether in all the circumstances the gift or hospitality is reasonable and justifiable. The intention behind the gift should always be considered.

What is not acceptable?

It is not acceptable for you (or someone on your behalf) to:

• give, promise to give, or offer, a payment, gift or hospitality with the expectation or hope that a business advantage will be received, or to reward a business advantage already given;
• give, promise to give, or offer, a payment, gift or hospitality to member of a third parties’ organisation;
• accept payment from a third party that you know or suspect is offered with the expectation that it will obtain a business advantage for them;
• accept a gift or hospitality from a third party if you know or suspect that it is offered or provided with an expectation that a business advantage will be provided by us in return;
• threaten or retaliate against another worker who has refused to commit a bribery offence or who has raised concerns under this statement; or
• engage in any activity that might lead to a breach of this statement.

Facilitation payments and kickbacks

We do not make, and will not accept, facilitation payments or “kickbacks” of any kind. Facilitation payments are typically small, unofficial payments made to secure or expedite a contract. 

You will not be asked to make a payment on our behalf. 

Kickbacks are typically payments made in return for a business favour or advantage.  All workers must avoid any activity that might lead to, or suggest, that a facilitation payment or kickback will be made or accepted by us.

Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest is a situation in which someone cannot make a fair decision because they will be affected by the result. 

A conflict of interest arises when someone’s private interests are opposed to the duty due to the company. Although conflicts do not necessarily involve improper or corrupt behaviour, they can lead to it.  For this reason, we require all our employees to notify management as soon as possible about any potential conflicts of interest which arise within any situation and then to take steps to avoid these situations.  

Donations

We only make charitable donations that are legal and ethical under local laws and practices. No donation must be offered or made without the prior approval of the Director.

Falsification of Records

All our financial books and records accurately reflect the rational, purpose, substance and legality of transactions and payments. 

We do not induce or facilitate third parties to make incomplete or misleading entries in their records.  We are alert to suspicious transactions where we have concerns regarding the parties involved, the structure and/ or its proceeds.

The following practices are prohibited:

• Authorising or funding any transaction that is undisclosed or unrecorded in our books, records and accounts; 
• Approving, inducing or making any payment with the purpose or understanding that any of it will be used for anything other than what is described in the supporting documents; 
• Omitting, falsifying or disguising entries in any of our books and records or inducing or facilitating any third party to do so on their own; 
• Paying expenses that are improper, unauthorised, and/or not supported by adequate documentation. 
• Dealing with, possessing, concealing or assisting any other person to deal with or conceal funds, assets or property where there is knowledge or suspicion that they relate to an underlying crime or terrorist funding

Money Laundering

Money laundering is the process by which criminally obtained money or other assets are exchanged for ‘clean’ money or other assets with no obvious link to their criminal origins.  Money laundering covers a wide variety of crimes, it can include anything from which individuals or companies derive a financial benefit, directly of indirectly. 

Warning signs include:

• Unusual and secretive behaviour by clients
• Unusual transactions
• Unusual source of funds
• Third party funding
• Sudden changes in payment instructions
• Companies with unnecessarily complex corporate structures
• Interposition of an entity in a transaction without any clear need

Money laundering legislation applies to all employees. Any member of staff could be committing an offence under the money laundering laws if they suspect money laundering, or if they become involved in some way and do nothing about it. If any employee suspects that money laundering activity is or has taken place, or if any person becomes concerned about their involvement, it must be disclosed as soon as possible to the Director. Failure to do so could result in the individual becoming personally liable to prosecution. 

Tax Evasion

Tax evasion is the illegal non-payment or under-payment of taxes, usually as the result of making a false declaration (or no declaration) of taxes due to the relevant tax authorities, which results in legal penalties if the perpetrator is caught. Tax avoidance, by contrast, is seeking to minimise the payment of taxes without deliberate deception. This is often legitimate but is sometimes contrary to the spirit of the law, e.g. involving the exploitation of loopholes. 

It is not acceptable for employees of the company to:

• Engage in any form of facilitating Tax Evasion or Foreign Tax Evasion. 
• Aid, abet, counsel or procure the commission of a Tax Evasion offence or Foreign Tax Evasion offence by another person. 
• Fail to promptly report any request or demand from any third party to facilitate the fraudulent Evasion of Tax by another person; or 
• Engage in any other activity that might lead to a Evasion of Tax; or 
• Threaten or retaliate against another individual who has refused to commit a Tax Evasion offence or a Foreign Tax Evasion offence or who has raised concerns about you.

Should staff be concerned that another employee or associate is facilitating a third party’s tax evasion, they should report this to the Director.

Further examples

As well as the examples outlined above, the below are also considered as forms of fraud, bribery and corruption.  It is not acceptable for employees of the Company to:

• Submit false qualifications, professional registrations and/ or references to obtain employment
• Fail to declare criminal convictions
• Falsify any time records and claim for hours not worked. 
• Falsify expense claims (for example, claims which were not actually incurred)

Your responsibilities

You must ensure that you read, understand and comply with this statement.

The prevention, detection and reporting of fraud, bribery and other forms of corruption are the responsibility of all those working for us or under our control. All workers are required to avoid any activity that might lead to, or suggest, a breach of this statement.

Any employee who breaches this statement will face disciplinary action, which may result in dismissal. We reserve our right to terminate our contractual relationship with other workers and organisations if they breach this statement. 

Record-keeping

By Law, we keep financial records and have appropriate internal controls in place which will evidence the business reason for making payments to third parties.

You must declare and keep a written record of all hospitality or gifts accepted or offered.  You must also ensure that all expenses claims relating to hospitality, gifts or expenses incurred to third parties.

How to raise a concern – whistleblowing

You are encouraged to raise concerns about any issue or suspicion of malpractice at the earliest possible stage. If you are unsure whether a particular act constitutes fraud, bribery, corruption or malpractice, or if you have any other queries, these should be raised with the appropriate person. You should raise a concern as soon as possible if you believe or suspect that a conflict with this statement has occurred or may occur in the future. 

Individuals can raise a concern with us under the arrangements outlined in this policy if they have a reasonable belief that malpractice and/or a wrongdoing is occurring or is likely to occur such as;

• A criminal act 
• A failure to comply with a legal obligation the individual/organisation may be subject to
• A miscarriage of justice
• A member of staff or learner/employer making a disclosure about actual or possible malpractice at the Centre and/or failure to comply with the terms of the Centre’s awarding body agreements
• Endangering an individual’s health and safety
• Damage to the environment; and
• Deliberate concealment of information about any of the above.

In addition, an individual raising an allegation under these whistleblowing arrangements should have a reasonable belief that the disclosure is in the public interest. An employee, candidate or customer can raise a concern directly to a Director of the company or to an external body. 

Ofqual has a public whistleblowing policy, in this it states that if an individual works for a Centre which is delivering regulated qualifications and they wish to make a whistleblowing disclosure to someone outside of their organisation, they should normally consider making the disclosure to the relevant awarding organisation that has approved their Centre to deliver the qualification(s) in question (for example, Highfield, EUSR, IOSH or CITB).

You may also decide to contact the relevant regulator, but they will normally ask the relevant awarding organisation to investigate. If you wish to report directly to the appropriate regulator, in which case their contact details are provided below:

Ofqual – the regulator in England and Northern Ireland

www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-malpractice-or-wrongdoing-to-ofqual;

Qualifications Wales – responsible for the regulation of qualifications in Wales

http://qualificationswales.org/?lang=en;

SQA Accreditation – the regulator in Scotland http://accreditation.sqa.org.uk/accreditation/home.

In case of doubt on how best to proceed, you can speak in confidence to the Centre Directors or Public Concern at Work (see next section).

You are recommended to take advice before making a whistleblowing allegation to ascertain your rights.   For example, if you want independent advice at any stage about your rights and protection we recommend that you contact Public Concern at Work (www.pcaw.co.uk) which is a registered charity and is the independent authority on public interest whistleblowing.

How to whistle blow

To raise an allegation under these whistleblowing arrangements please contact a director of the company. Upon making an allegation it is helpful to provide as much information and supporting evidence (if held) as possible to help inform the nature of any investigation we will carry out.

You may wish to remain anonymous and, although it is always preferable to reveal your identity and provide us with your contact details, if you are concerned about this then please inform us that you do not wish for us to divulge your identity and we will work to ensure your details are not disclosed. Unless we are required by legal procedure or regulatory requirement to provide these details.

Once a concern has been raised, it will not be possible to prevent the matter being investigated by subsequently withdrawing the concern as we are obliged by the Regulators to follow-up and investigate allegations of malpractice or maladministration.

Depending upon the nature of the allegation we will appoint someone to investigate the allegation who has the appropriate level of training and competence and who has not had any previous involvement or personal interest in the matter.

The person(s) appointed to investigate the matter may contact/meet with the person who raised the concern (the whistleblower) as soon as possible to ascertain the details of their concern. If the whistleblower does not wish to make a written statement, the investigator(s) will write a brief summary of the concern(s) that have been raised and the whistleblower will be expected to confirm this as correct.  A work colleague or another individual (for example friend/independent witness) can accompany the whistleblower at this and any subsequent meeting.

The investigator will then conduct an investigation to establish the facts in accordance with the arrangements in our Maladministration and Malpractice Policy. 

We will endeavor to keep the whistleblower updated as to how we have progressed the allegation (for example we have undertaken an investigation) and the whistleblower will have the opportunity to raise any concerns about the way the investigation is being conducted with the investigator(s). However, we won’t disclose all details of the investigation activities and it may not be appropriate for us to disclose full details of the 

Outcomes of the investigation due to confidentiality or legal reasons (for example disclose full details on the action that may be taken against the parties concerned). While we cannot guarantee that we will disclose all matters in the way that the whistleblower might wish, we will strive to handle the matter fairly and properly.

It is important that issues raised to us are genuine concerns. Please note that we reserve the right to take action against a Company and/or individual who make a disclosure that transpires to be malicious in nature or made in bad faith.

Outcomes of an investigation

If the investigation results in a proven case of malpractice or maladministration we will take action against the relevant parties in accordance with the arrangements in our Malpractice and Maladministration Policy.

If the allegation is not proven by the investigation, if you (as the whistleblower) did not deliberately raise an allegation which you knew to be untrue, no action will be taken against you. If the allegation was made due to a genuine misunderstanding, the individual(s) (who have been the subject of the investigation will be expected to bear no malice or ill feeling towards their accuser, nor should they or their colleagues mistreat a whistleblower.

What to do if you are a victim of fraud, bribery or corruption

It is important that you tell the Director as soon as possible if you are offered a bribe by a third party, are asked to make one, suspect that this may happen in the future, or believe that you are a victim of another form of unlawful activity.

Protection

Staff who refuse to accept or offer a bribe, or those who raise concerns or report another’s wrongdoing, are sometimes worried about possible repercussions. We aim to encourage openness and will support anyone who raises genuine concerns in good faith under this statement, even if they turn out to be mistaken.

We are committed to ensuring no one suffers any detrimental treatment as a result of refusing to take part in fraud, bribery or corruption, or because of reporting in good faith their suspicion that an actual or potential bribery or other corruption offence has taken place, or may take place in the future. Detrimental treatment includes dismissal, disciplinary action, threats or other unfavourable treatment connected with raising a concern. 

Communication

Our zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption must be communicated to all suppliers, contractors and business partners at the outset of our business relationship with them and as appropriate thereafter.

Who is responsible for the statement?

The Director has overall responsibility for ensuring this statement complies with our legal and ethical obligations, and that all those under our control comply with it.

The Director has primary and day-to-day responsibility for implementing this statement, and for monitoring its use and effectiveness and dealing with any queries on its interpretation. Management at all levels are responsible for ensuring those reporting to them are made aware of and understand this statement.

The Director will monitor the effectiveness and review the implementation of this statement, regularly considering its suitability, adequacy and effectiveness.  Any improvements identified will be made as soon as possible.  Internal control systems and financial procedures will be subject to regular audits to promote best practice in countering bribery and corruption.

All staff are responsible for the success of this statement and should ensure they use it to disclose any suspected danger or wrongdoing.