The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency opens a preliminary consultation for the tender of the psychological care service for whistleblowers of corruption

Press release

Valencia, September 14, 2023.- The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency has published a preliminary market consultation on the Public Sector Contracting Platform for an upcoming tender for a contract for attention and psychological support to whistleblowers of corruption.

The recent approval of Law 2/2023 on the protection of whistleblowers of corruption, as a result of the transposition into Spanish law of Directive 1937/2019 better known as  the Whistleblower Directive, states that one of the support measures for whistleblowers will be the right to assistance and psychological help.

Since its creation, the Agency has accumulated extensive experience in dealing with complainants, who have often been forced to require psychological treatment, derived from the difficult situations experienced as a result of filing the complaint.

The pressure in the professional field that complainants often receive transcends the personal and family sphere, affecting different areas of their private lives such as family and friends.

With the aim of being able to offer this professionalized psychological support and care service, the Agency launches this preliminary consultation to collect information that allows the preparation of the specifications corresponding to the tender.

This consultation is open to expert persons or entities, independent authorities or professional associations related to psychological assistance services.

To do this, the answers must be sent before October 4  to the email: contratacion@antifraucv.es indicating in the  subject: “Response to preliminary consultation on service contract of assistance and psychological care in relation to the purposes of the Agency”.

The answers must be submitted in pdf format, digitally signed and must provide an email and a contact telephone number.

The preliminary market consultation is published at the following link: Public Sector Procurement Platform (contrataciondelestado.es)

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency was the first authority in Spain to have a Statute for the Protection of the Whistleblower of Corruption and currently has 35 people under protection.

Aula del Colegio Maristas de Algemesi

3,300 people receive training from the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency during the first half of 2023

Press release

Valencia, 22 August 2023.- The investigation of fraud and corruption is undoubtedly one of the Agency’s best-known functions. However, there are others such as prevention and training functions in which the Agency has been developing an intense work.
The development of ethics and public integrity is for the Agency one of the fundamental tools in the fight against fraud and corruption in our society and hence the importance of training in all areas and levels.
The training activity developed by the Agency during the first half of 2023 has allowed more than 3,300 people to participate in one of the 55 training activities organized. This figure represents an increase of 72% compared to the same period in 2022 in which 33 training activities were organized. With regard to the number of participants, this has increased by 50% from 2,191 to 3,300 this year.
The 55 training actions have been developed: 6 in the province of Alicante (Alicante and Elx); 4 in the province of Castellón (Vinarós and Castellón) and 29 in the province of Valencia (Requena, Alfara del Patriarca, Alzira, Algemesí, Sagunt, Riba-roja de Túria, Quart de Poblet, Cullera, Ontinyent and València). Likewise, 16 activities have been developed in the online modality.
One of the main training activities that have been developed in this first semester of 2023 have been the docuforums that the Agency has been teaching for some years with the students of the Valencian universities. In this first semester, 10 docuforums have been organized at the University of Valencia; 2 at the Universitat Jaume I de Castelló and 1 at the Universitat d’Alicante.
After the good reception that the docuforum format has had among Valencian universities, the Agency extended this activity to secondary education institutes and thus, in this first semester of 2023 the staff of the Agency’s training area has visited 9 institutes to carry out this activity.
The training activities during the year 2023 have also had a longer duration by increasing the courses lasting between 15 and 20 hours that from the training area of the Agency has been taught for the staff of different public administrations such as the councils of Alicante, Valencia and Castellón; the public universities of the Valencian Community; the Valencian Institute of Public Administration (IVAP) or the National Institute of Public Administration (INAP).
3 training activities have also been organized with civil society entities and associations.
Whether you are a teacher (university, institute or college) or if you work in a public administration or are part of an association or entity and you are interested in this type of training, you can contact the training area of the Agency in this email: formacion@antifraucv.es

Fotos sede de la Agencia

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency receives an average of 49 complaints per month in the first half of 2023

Press release

Valencia, August 4, 2023.- During the first half of 2023, the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency has received a total of 295 complaints, which represents an average of 49 complaints per month. Likewise, this represents an increase of 30% with respect to the complaints filed in the same period of the previous year when the number of complaints was 226.
The number of complaints filed with the Agency continues to increase, so in 2020 226 complaints were filed; In 2021, 359 complaints were reached and in 2022 there were 453. Therefore, in this first half of 2023, more complaints have already been filed with the Agency than in the whole of 2020.
With regard to the matters to which re-submitted complaints are subjected, those relating to human resources management are the most numerous, representing a total of 44 per cent (131 complaints). In second place, there are those that refer to public procurement that represent 11% of cases (33 complaints) and in third place urban planning with 9% of cases (28 complaints).
Of the 131 complaints filed, 97 of them (33 per cent) relate to personnel selection and provision procedures.
The channel most used by complainants again has been the Agency’s complaints mailbox, representing 88% of the cases, that is, 261 of the 295 complaints filed have done so in this way. Email, with 19 complaints (6%), has been the second most used channel.
With regard to the management of the files opened by the Agency until June 30, 244 files had been resolved and 31 final investigation resolutions have been published, which can be consulted on the Agency’s website at this link: https://www.antifraucv.es/resoluciones-de-investigacion-2023/
It should also be noted that during this first half of 2023 the Agency has received 5 new commissions for expert reports from different judicial bodies and prosecutors, while during this same period 6 expert reports have been completed. In total, the Agency has been commissioned to produce 29 expert reports in criminal proceedings, which demonstrates the close collaboration maintained with the judicial bodies.
As an example of this close collaboration, it should be noted that on June 19 the Agency signed an agreement with the Attorney General’s Office that aims to strengthen the common functions and purposes that exist between both institutions.