The Alicante Provincial Council and the Agency sign a collaboration protocol to prevent corruption and defend public integrity

Press release

Alicante. May 24, 2022.- The Alicante Provincial Council and the Agency have signed a collaboration protocol with which the development of joint projects begins. The document has been signed by the first vice president and deputy for the transparency area, Julia Parra, and the director of AVAF, Joan Llinares.

The first action to be implemented as a result of this protocol will be to set up an external complaints mailbox that could be operational within two months. Work has already begun on this new resource that will be accessible from the Diputación’s electronic headquarters and also through the Transparency Portal (https://abierta.diputacionalicante.es/).

This tool is mainly aimed at the strategic areas of hiring, subsidies and access to the public function, which includes different profiles such as contractors, applicants for public aid or participants in personnel selection processes. The channel complies with the new applicable regulations and will allow any third party, and also any employee, to file complaints with guarantees and while maintaining their anonymity, so that an impartial body can resolve their claim.

In a later phase, the Diputación’s Transparency area will implement the internal complaints channel, for which collaboration with AVAF will also be sought. This second initiative, which will be put into operation next year, is aimed at Provincial Council employees with the aim of implementing mechanisms to guarantee public integrity. It is also planned to develop other projects such as a code of ethics for the staff of the Provincial Council.

Meeting of the anti-corruption agencies and regional offices to claim their role as an external channel for complaints and protection of whistleblowers

Press release

Seville,  May 12,  2022.- The regional authorities against corruption of the Spanish State have met in Seville in a meeting organized by the Andalusian Office against Fraud and Corruption and that has taken place at the headquarters of the Andalusian institution, provisionally located in the Parliament of Andalusia.

The meeting brought together the heads of the authorities: Ricardo Vicente Puyol, director of the Andalusian Office against Fraud and Corruption;  Miguel Ángel Gimeno, director of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia;  Joan Llinares, director of the Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption of the Valencian Community; and Belén Méndez, acting director at  the Office for the Prevention and Fight Against Corruption in the Balearic Islands.

On the occasion of the draft law, which transposes into domestic law the European Directive  2019/1937 on the protection of persons reporting on breaches of Union law, the meeting addressed the need for a regulatory anchor that reflects the role of protection of whistleblowers played by these independent authorities and that clearly recognizes them as an external channel for reporting.

The objective of this demand is that the functions they have been exercising, in accordance with their regulatory laws, are adequately endorsed in their field of competence in the aforementioned draft law. It has also been noted that the proposed text should not regress the rights already recognized.

Appearance at the Corts Economy Commission to present the 2021 Activity Report

Press release

València, May 11, 2022.- The director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, Joan Llinares, has appeared at the Les Corts Economy, Budget and Treasury Commission to report on the Agency’s Activity Report for 2021.

Throughout his speech, Joan exposed the activity carried out by the Agency in 2021 in its different areas, such as training, prevention and documentation; the legal area and protection of the complainant; analysis and research; administration, hiring and human resources and communication.

In terms of research, the evolution that the Agency has followed since its creation reflects an exponential increase in the complaints received. During 2021, the Agency received 359 complaints, which represents 58% more complaints compared to 2020. Since its creation in 2017, the Agency has opened a total of 969 investigation files.

“The fact that citizens turn to the Agency to inform them of facts that could constitute crimes of fraud and corruption is the greatest endorsement of the work that the Agency’s staff is carrying out in the different areas of action,” he said. Joan.

“This growing trend in the number of complaints that we have seen during the past year and the previous ones does not stop here, but continues to increase and thus in the first quarter of this year 2022 we have already received 105 complaints. This increase leads us to consider the need to provide the Agency with more staff to be able to carry out its activity, since the volume of complaints that enter the Agency far exceeds what was contemplated at the time of its creation in 2017” Linares added.

Another piece of information to highlight about the work carried out by the Agency during 2021 is that it has been determined for the first time that the amount recoverable by Valencian public institutions as a result of the investigations completed by the Agency in 2021 exceeds 23 million euros.

 

Llinares also presented the training activity carried out in 2021 by the Agency, which has resulted in the organization of 43 training actions in which more than 1,800 people have participated, which has meant a considerable increase in relation to the 23 activities organized and the 827 people who participated in the year 2020.

Likewise, it is worth highlighting the preparation during the year 2021 of a Guide together with various materials to help public institutions to develop their public integrity plans in accordance with the requirements of the Next Generation funds. The Agency also approved its Code of Ethics and Conduct and established its Ethics Committee.

“All this training, research, prevention and dissemination work carried out by the Agency is reflected in this Activity Report which is available to the public so that they can check the work that is carried out day by day and which aims to not only the fight against fraud and corruption but also the creation of public ethics and integrity”, added Llinares.

On March 29, the mandate contained in article 22 of Law 11/2016 on the creation of the Agency was also fulfilled by presenting the Activity Report to the Board of Les Corts, and on April 1, said Report was also delivered. to the President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Ximo Puig.

The report can be consulted at this link:

https://www.antifraucv.es/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/MEMORIA-DE-ACTIVIDAD-2021-CAS.pdf

Link to director’s appearance: