The City Council of Manises and the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency sign a protocol to launch the complaint mailboxes and the Integrity Plan

Press release

València, 29 November 2023.-  The mayor of Manises, Javier Mansilla, and the director of the Agency, Joan Llinares, have signed a collaboration protocol between the two institutions that will help promote the Integrity Plan on which the Manises City Council is working.

Within the general lines of the Integrity Plan, the implementation of both internal and external complaint mailboxes is contemplated, thus complying with the requirement of Law 2/2023 regulating the protection of people who report regulatory and anti-corruption infractions.

With this Law, published in the Official State Gazette on 21 February, European Directive 1937/2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of EU law, better known as the Whistleblowers Directive, is transposed into Spanish law.

The City Council of Manises will enable as an external channel for complaints the complaint mailbox of the Valencia Anti-Fraud Agency, which will be visible on the municipal website; A mailbox that guarantees the confidentiality of whistleblowers, as well as allowing the possibility of being able to make complaints anonymously.

The collaboration between both institutions will also extend to other actions and activities such as those of a training nature where the staff of the city council will receive training in aspects related to the promotion of ethics and public integrity, as well as the prevention and detection of situations constituting fraud and corruption.

The Integrity Plan of the City Council of Manises will contain, among others, an institutional declaration of integrity; embedding institutional integrity in strategic planning; the establishment of a dedicated internal whistleblowing channel and the connection to the Agency’s external whistleblowing channel; the regulation and management of conflicts of interest; the training of City Council staff in matters of integrity or the promotion and dissemination of the culture of ethics and public integrity.

The Spanish Society for the Evaluation of Public Policies joins the Participation Council of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency

Press release

València, 28 November 2023.- The Participation Council of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency has met in ordinary session and the Spanish Society for the Evaluation of Public Policies (SEE) has participated for the first time, joining as a member of the Agency’s participation body.

The SEE is an entity that aims to contribute to the development in Spain of a culture of public policy evaluation as a fundamental instrument for improving the effectiveness and social utility of the activity of public administrations.

To this end, the SEE promotes scientific research among the agents involved in the university sphere, the civil service, the business and professional spheres and the public authorities.

The SEE joins the Consell de Participació (Participation Council), a consultative body of the Agency that includes civic and social organizations, as well as individuals who stand out for their fight against fraud and corruption and for the promotion of ethics and public integrity.

In 2023, the Spanish Society for the Evaluation of Public Policies, the World Compliance Association and the Hay Derecho Foundation have joined the Consell de Participació.

The Consell de Participació is made up of the following organizations: Civic Action Against Corruption; Whistleblower; Valencian Association of Consumers and Users (AVACU); Hay Derecho Foundation; FIBGAR Foundation; Foundation for Justice; Observatori Ciutadà contra la Corrupción (OCC); Open Society Initiative for Europe (OSIFE); Plataforma Ciutadana Castelló per la Justicia i contra la Corrupción (Citizen Platform Castelló for Justice and Against Corruption); Trade Union of Technicians of the Ministry of Finance (GESTHA); Tactical Whistleblowers; Transparency International Spain and World Compliance Association.

The Agency participates in a course of the Attorney General’s Office for the training of prosecutors

Press release

València, November 28, 2023.- The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency has participated as a teacher in the course “Crimes against the public administration: fraud in administrative contracting” organized by the Center for Legal Studies under the Ministry of Justice.

The course was held on November 27 and 28 in Madrid and was aimed at prosecutors with the aim of acquiring knowledge in this area given their high specialization and thus being able to safely address cases of administrative contracting of great technical-procedural complexity.

The course was inaugurated by the Attorney General of the State, Álvaro García Ortiz, and was attended by the Agency, the Director of Analysis and Research, Gustavo Segura, and the head of the Support and Expertise Unit, Amparo Martí, who presented the contracting in the public sector and the experience in the Agency in the main problems that arise in the execution of these contracts.

Other topics discussed throughout the two days were the most controversial aspects of embezzlement crimes, the problems associated with extrajudicial credit recognitions or the administrative malfeasance of authorities and public officials.

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency has been collaborating with the State Attorney General’s Office for several years in different training activities for prosecutors and this collaboration, which covers other areas of action, materialized with the signing of a collaboration agreement between both institutions on June 19.