Local Authority Investigation Officers Group (LAIOG) was a British organisation involving Local Authority investigators. It ceased to operate on 1 December 2016.[1]
LAIOG was recognised as a representative group in providing information and statistics to, for example, the UK parliament.[2] The organisation was considered of sufficient importance to be mentioned by name in the fraud prevention policies of many Local Authorities[3] and Department for Work and Pensions newsletters.[4]
Although referred to under Fraud Squad in this encyclopaedia as an investigation unit, this was not strictly the case, although members did liaise during investigations.
There were a number of regional groups within the national 'umbrella' organisation. The official regional groups, that is those represented on the executive committee[5] were :
Other groups also met, such as Northern Home Counties.
At its peak, around 400 Local Authorities across England, Scotland and Wales were members of LAIOG.[6] Membership was for the authority, rather than individual members.
The organisation was run by a committee[5] of elected and representative members, made up of :
LAIOG's main functions and activities were:[6]
LAIOG was also involved in setting up a number of qualifications for investigators, working with ITS Training (UK) Ltd.[7] and Bond Solon.
The regional groups also held AGMs and some offered training days for members.
LAIOG became part of TEICCAF on 1 December 2016.[1] TEICCAF has now ceased to operate and its website redirects to the IRRV Investigation Faculty.[8][9]
The National Investigation Officers' Group (NIOG) was set up on 2019 and includes on its steering committee a number of people who were involved in LAIOG before it ceased to operate.[10]