Nov242021

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency and the Valencia Provincial Council united by the «New challenges of Public Sector Contracting: ODS and Next Generation Funds»

#TrainingAVAF

The AVAF has participated in the course “New challenges in Public Sector Contracting: ODS and Next Generation Funds” organized by the Valencia Provincial Council, and coordinated by Ylenia Diaz, general secretary of the Riba-roja del Turia city council and Cristina González Gabarda of the Valencia Provincial Council.

The reporting channels as an instrument for the achievement of solid institutions of SDG 16 has been the title of the conference given by the Agency within the framework of the DIVAL course.

The SDG 16 of the 2030 Agenda, focused on the promotion of just, peaceful and inclusive societies has been the guide of the course. “Significantly reduce corruption and bribery in all its forms” (SDG 16.5) and “Create effective and transparent accountable institutions at all levels” (SDG 16.6) have been present in the development of the learning experience.

The director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, Joan Llinares, shared with the students the background of the AVAF, the functions attributed by Law 11/20216 to create the Agency (prevention, training, documentation, protection of whistleblowers, analysis and investigation ) as well as the alerts received in the complaints channel regarding public procurement.

The Order of the Ministry of Finance and Public Function HFP / 1030/2021, of September 29, which configures the management system of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. He introduced the obligation to develop and approve anti-fraud plans for all those organizations that were to manage funds. Next Generation was also present throughout his speech.

As a result of the impulse given by this Order to the need to have tools that allow recognizing risks, Joan Llinares presented the AVAF Guide: The Public Integrity Plan: Roadmap and Facilitating Annexes. https://www.antifraucv.es/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Guia_avaf_plan_de_integridad_publica.pdf that will allow the development of an institutional integrity system in public organizations.

As detailed in the aforementioned guide, “It is not enough to approve a public integrity plan and publish it. With that, the entity will have put on the number, but, to start the race, it will have to become aware of the importance of said plan and put it into practice at all levels of its organization, as part of a process that implies dedication, continuous improvement efforts and actions, but which will undoubtedly be very positive for elected officials, public managers, public employees and for the general public. “

The complaint channels, one of the manifestations of the institutional integrity system, has focused the presentation of Gustavo Segura, director of analysis and investigation of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency.

The public employees selected by the Valencia Provincial Council have had the opportunity to approach the complaint channel tool that the Agency has and that can be used as an external complaint channel that all public entities must have at their disposal. as of December 18, 2021.

To learn more about the complaints channel of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, you can access the webinar held a few months ago, available on the AVAF You Tube channel. https://youtu.be/E5S_jPCbkjM

Nov192021

Unisocietat Paterna debate on transparency, accountability and good governance in Covid-19

Unisocietat Conference in Paterna, November 18, 2021

The Valencian Antifraud Agency participated in the Unisocietat training activity of the University of Valencia organized in Paterna to discuss transparency, accountability and good governance in COVID-19.

The activity was carried out within the framework of the collaboration agreement between the Agency and the University of Valencia and aims to raise social awareness of collective ethics and the prevention of fraud and corruption in all areas of public life throughout the Valencian territory. .

The conference was attended by 15 people, and generated a debate on public information and the right of access, the limit of fundamental rights during the first months of the pandemic, and emergency contracting. And how decisions to streamline procedures posed a risk for corruption.

The conference was led by the professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Valencia, Lorenzo Cotino Hueso, who analyzed the first decisions in times of a pandemic from fundamental and constitutional rights. It addressed the right of access to public information and how it influences the collective trust and ties of society.

The Agency representative, Marita Oliver, focused attention on the Agency’s actions in preventing fraud and corruption.

In the debate, emphasis was placed on requests for public information and the right of access, on building citizen and institutional trust, and on the role of transparency councils.

Nov192021

The Valencia City Council is the first Valencian public institution that will connect its website to the complaints box of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency

València, november 19, 2021.- The Valencia City Council, represented by the Deputy Mayor and Councilor for Transparency and Open Government, Elisa Valía and the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, with representation of its director, Joan Llinares, have signed a collaboration agreement whereby both institutions undertake to work in different areas of prevention and the fight against corruption.

One of the most outstanding aspects of the agreement is that in order to comply with one of the requirements derived from the European Directive 2019/1937 regarding the protection of people who report infringements of Union Law, the Valencia City Council recognizes As an external channel for complaints, the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency’s complaint mailbox and will link from its website to the AVAF mailbox.

The Directive states that all public administrations and public sector entities must enable both external and internal reporting channels. In the case of external channels, this requirement would be met by linking directly from the website of the administration or institution in question to the complaints box of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency.

The Valencia City Council has been the first administration in the entire Valencian Community to comply in this way with the requirement of the European Directive that requires setting up external complaint mailboxes. With regard to internal channels, AVAF will collaborate with the City Council for their implementation.

The agreement also includes other actions such as the assistance of the Agency in the implementation of the Integrity Plan of the Valencia City Council, the preparation of generic risk catalogs or collaboration in dissemination and training actions on the need and content of the Plan of Integrity.

For the coordination of all the actions, a Coordination Commission will be set up, which will meet during the third four-month period of each year to evaluate the activities carried out and propose new institutional collaboration actions for the following year.

“In recent years, we have managed to raise the reputational projection of the city and from the Valencia City Council we work to continue articulating mechanisms that help prevent fraud, thinking about the future, so that we never have to live dark years at a reputational level as those we went through not so long ago ”. Elisa Valía, Councilor for Transparency of the City Council, affirmed.

“From the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency we congratulate the Valencia City Council for being the first Valencian public administration that complies with the requirement of having an external complaints box. I also take this opportunity to encourage the rest of the institutions so that with the AVAF and we can help them in complying with the requirements of the European Directive 2019/1937 whose deadline for transposition into the Spanish legal system ends on December 17 ”, said Joan Llinares, director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency.

“The AVAF has among its functions that of collaborating with public administrations and entities of the Valencian public sector in the prevention and fight against corruption and that of working together to create public ethics and integrity,” added Llinares.

You can consult the agreement at the following link