Found potential corruption in Council

[TheBurgandyonmytshirt]

What do I need to concretely prove this and who do I take it to?

I have found that a Director does have links to the company that wins most contracts. This company, I have proof of, is being commissioned without actually completing any required work (it’s all falsified).

E.G I asked for what company was awarded the most contracts of a particular type between a certain period and was told they hold that data but it’s commercially sensitive

You could also ask your local newspaper OP, if you have a decent one.

Contact the external auditors. They are independent. They may have a way to notify them anonymously. If not they are certainly bound by law to maintain confidentiality of your identity if you request this

Here is a link to the webpage that sets out who the external auditors are, and their whistleblowing policy
https://www.psaa.co.uk/whistleblowing/

The company winning these contracts don’t even hold the proper licenses

I'd send an anonymous email to all Heads of service, Leaders, local councillors and the local papers...

I wouldn't. You don't want to alert them all, so they can try and cover their tracks.

Keep it tight.

I agree, I want to build a case first then give to Private Eye to continue

Having worked for a council, I am not at all surprised about this. Have you tried the local government ombudsman?

The press?

Whistleblowing is for anyone - not just staff.

Anyone who has a concern can use the whistleblowing process. You don't need concrete proof as there should be a procedure for investigation. You should also be able to whistleblow anonymously.

No. Legally, only employees get whistleblowing protection.
Random joe public doesn't.

Of course anyone can flag issues

The distinction is between whistleblowing polices to protect employees Vs anyone being able to flag an issue

As a fraud investigator for a council, please do not build your own case. Any evidence you obtain, may be inadmissible if it was not obtained in the proper manner, and could prejudice the case from being successful in court, if it gets that far.

The council will have its own fraud team, who will investigate allegations made against staff, impartially and independently.

Please report what you have so far to them and let them deal with it properly!

If anything obtained via a FOI request then becomes inadmissible purely because a member of the public got it through FOI then there is something very wrong.

OP should report this instead of investigating just to get it dealt with now, but I would also be finding a member of the press who has challenged the counsel or particular director in the past as well as private eye, and if my MP was implicated then I would contact the opposition parties.

I just want to make sure I do this really robustly as when I attempted to raise the concern before, social services ended up coming to our home under the claim I was delusional.Really felt like a threat. Left it dormant for a while but it really does annoy me, I just don’t think it’s right!

I agree with this, report, leave them to deal with it.
Professionally auditor's and council solicitors have a duty to not brush this under the carpet

The leader of the council (and the councillors of all parties) should be totally separate to the CEO. Or do you have a mayor yet?

Sounds like it would benefit you if you're Reform. If not, go to your reform (or opposition) candidates.

Have you posted about this before? The social service and delusional comment is ringing some bells.

Not a Reform area no.

and it’s interesting if someone else has said something before like this @BeltaLodaLife - does this mean it’s a “go to” tactic?

I would go to the press office within the comms team of the council. They are the ones that will be worried about this getting into the news and their job is to protect the council and they have a direct access to all the senior leadership. Go on the council website to find their email or call the duty press officer and say you want to report this or you’re going to the press

What's mad about it? People conspire. You've found out. Are police 'mad conspiracy theorists' when they investigate conspiracies? Such as conspiracy to murder, traffic, or supply drugs for example?

It wouldn't be unusual to refer someone if there was a concern for well being as a result of the tone/content /frequency (or some combination) of their contact with a public body, but that doesn't mean it's a "tactic" - there's a duty there to flag safeguarding concerns.

Send what you know to their audit team. They have a duty to investigate. Job done.

I am not talking about anything obtained under FOI, but the OP wants to "build a case" and then report it to the press.

I literally investigate this type of fraud for a living and have done for a long time.

I have seen many cases go nowhere because armchair detectives have cobbled together some pieces of what they think is evidence, then sent this "evidence" to Uncle Tom Cobley and all, and too many people get involved, the offenders get tipped off and hide evidence, the case gets too tainted to go anywhere and the offenders get off scott free.

Every council will have a fraud investigation team, and that should be the first port of call for anything like this. They are independent and impartial, and will investigate properly so that if criminal offences are suspected and there is evidence to support this, then the case can be taken forward appropriately.

Contracts should be publicly available, not commercially sensitive, is there a contracts register you can search?