Fraud and the Justice System

Justice Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 2 Dec 2021 Closed: 14 Sep 2023 Parliament page
This short inquiry sought to examine the ability of the Justice System to effectively prosecute fraud cases. The Committee was particularly interested in how the system is set up to tackle lower-level frauds, that are often not serious enough to be considered by the Serious Fraud Office but have a … Read more
20 Recommendations
23 Conclusions
1 Report
5 Letters
4 Events
Activity timeline 11 events
9 May
2023
Correspondence
11 Jan
2023
Report published
7 Dec
2022
Correspondence
23 Nov
2022
Correspondence
18 Oct
2022
Report published
17 May
2022
Correspondence
10 May
2022
Correspondence
20 Apr
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 8, Palace of Westminster
22 Mar
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
15 Mar
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
22 Feb
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Justice System HC 12 18 Oct 2022 43 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
15 results
Clear
1 Conclusion Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Epidemic of fraud is increasing, accelerating during pandemic, with no reversal in sight.
There is currently an epidemic of fraud in England and Wales. The level of fraud has been increasing year on year and this growth accelerated during the pandemic to an unprecedented level. As the country emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, … Read more
Government Response
The government states that tackling fraud is a priority, with the Security Minister providing leadership and oversight, and highlights the successful relaunch of the Joint Fraud Taskforce to combat fraud.
Ministry of Justice
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10 Recommendation Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Implement immediate steps to improve fraud reporting mechanisms and case progression for victims.
Individual police forces do not have the capacity to manage the volume of fraud reports made and so it is vital that there is an effective reporting service that is victim-focused and can deal consistently with reports and progress cases … Read more
Government Response
The government committed £400 million over three years to tackle economic crime, dedicating 725 Police Uplift Programme posts to serious organised crime, and expanding fraud investigation teams across all Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs).
Ministry of Justice
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16 Conclusion Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Preventing fraud should be paramount, alongside maximising asset recovery for victims.
We are wary of placing too great an emphasis on the compensation of victims. We do not want to give criminals carte blanche to commit their crimes just because victims can be reimbursed, since their crimes will continue to have … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed on the importance of further charters and committed to the Home Office launching a tech and online charter with industry next year to drive down fraud and improve collaborative working.
Ministry of Justice
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21 Recommendation Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Fraud receives disproportionately low police funding and officer allocation despite prevalence.
Fraud accounts for more than 40% of all crime yet receives only around 2% of police funding. Out of the 20,000 new police officers being recruited, only 380 are planned to be deployed in the response to fraud. If the … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the need for sufficient resourcing, allocating £400 million over three years for economic crime and dedicating 725 police uplift posts to serious organised crime including fraud. It is also expanding fraud investigation teams across all Regional Organised Crime Units and increasing capacity in CoLP and the NCA.
Ministry of Justice
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22 Recommendation Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Government funding and police resourcing for fraud response remain insufficient.
The Government needs to put in place sufficient funding and police resourcing to bring about a step-change in the response to fraud.
Government Response
The government accepts the need for a step-change in resourcing, allocating £400 million over three years for economic crime and dedicating 725 police uplift posts to serious organised crime including fraud. It is also expanding fraud investigation teams across all Regional Organised Crime Units and increasing capacity in CoLP and the NCA.
Ministry of Justice
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23 Conclusion Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Police training inadequately addresses technology-exploiting fraud crimes and evolving offending methods.
Fraud crimes can be easy to spot in many cases if a police officer has adequate awareness of technological developments, but can be missed in the absence of such knowledge. The training of police remains focused on more traditional crime … Read more
Government Response
The government supports the College of Policing's (CoP) efforts to ensure police professionals have access to appropriate training for fraud, detailing existing training programmes and ongoing reviews with the City of London Police.
Ministry of Justice
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25 Conclusion Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Dedicated economic crime courts would address complex fraud cases and backlog.
We have heard compelling proposals for dedicated economic crime courts to ensure there are judges with the right skills to oversee what can often be lengthy and sometimes complex cases. This would also help address the backlog in fraud cases, … Read more
Government Response
The government recognises the impact of delays and clarifies that dedicated courts alone would not increase capacity. However, it confirms the planned construction of the City of London Law courts, opening in 2026, which is expected to focus on high-level fraud, cyber, and economic crime cases.
Ministry of Justice
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32 Conclusion Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Effective fraud prevention requires robust public and private sector cooperation.
Our inquiry has repeatedly heard that the most effective way to tackle fraud is to prevent it occurring in the first place. This requires co-operation across the private and public sectors, with the Government using its convening power to unite … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees on the need for a unified public and private sector response to fraud and will shortly publish a new strategy detailing how it will stop fraud attempts, empower victims, and prosecute fraudsters through collaboration with various partners.
Ministry of Justice
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33 Recommendation Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Upcoming Fraud Action Plan needs clear roles for public and private sectors.
Government should continue to bring together the public and private sectors and ensure that the upcoming Fraud Action Plan sets out its ambition for tackling fraud, how this will be achieved, and the roles and responsibilities each industry has within … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees on the need for a unified public and private sector response to fraud, citing ongoing collaboration through the Joint Fraud Taskforce. It commits to shortly publishing a new strategy that will detail its ambitions, methods, and partnership approach to combatting fraud.
Ministry of Justice
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34 Recommendation Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Tech and telecom companies show insufficient engagement preventing fraud on their platforms.
We acknowledge that telecommunications and tech companies are taking steps to improve their response to fraud, however they remain platforms through which the majority of frauds impacting the general public are conducted. There still appears to be a lack of … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation and intends to launch a tech and online charter with industry next year to drive down fraud and improve collaboration, with further details in the upcoming Fraud Strategy.
Ministry of Justice
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35 Conclusion Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Tech and social media companies play vital role in designing fraud out of systems.
Tech and social media companies have a vital role to play in designing fraud out of their systems to help prevent so many frauds from being conducted online.
Government Response
The government agrees with the vital role of tech and social media companies in preventing online fraud. It intends for the Home Office to launch a tech and online charter with industry next year, outlining public and private actions to drive down fraud in these sectors.
Ministry of Justice
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36 Recommendation Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Establish charters with social media and tech companies to ensure fraud accountability.
The Government should prioritise putting in place charters with the social media and tech companies to capture their commitments and responsibilities in relation to tackling fraud, and to enable them to be held to account by government for their progress … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation and confirms the Home Office intends to launch a tech and online charter with industry next year. This charter will include public and private actions to tackle fraud and will be further outlined in the upcoming Fraud Strategy.
Ministry of Justice
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41 Conclusion Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Online Safety Bill offers crucial opportunity to strengthen fraud prevention on platforms.
We welcome the opportunity the Online Safety Bill presents to require companies to do more to prevent frauds from being perpetrated on their platforms, and to strengthen the obligations of companies to ensure the safety of their online users.
Government Response
The government confirms the Online Safety Bill will, for the first time, create a duty on social media and search engine companies to implement systems and processes to prevent fraud on their platforms, with Ofcom having extensive enforcement powers.
Ministry of Justice
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42 Conclusion Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Current fraud prevention campaigns lack sufficient resources to effectively raise public awareness.
Key to the prevention of fraud is increasing public awareness of these crimes and the steps people can take to avoid being victimised. Although campaigns are currently run by the Financial Conduct Authority and its partners, these do not have … Read more
Government Response
The government recognises the importance of raising public awareness for fraud prevention, which will be a key part of its forthcoming fraud strategy. It has established a new public engagement team at the NECC/NCA to coordinate anti-fraud communications across sectors and improve messaging, in addition to existing campaigns.
Ministry of Justice
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43 Recommendation Accepted
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Plan a national awareness campaign to raise public awareness of fraud prevention measures.
The Government should plan a national awareness campaign as part of the new Fraud Action Plan, to raise public awareness of fraud and the personal actions people can take to reduce their chances of falling victim to such crimes. (Paragraph … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the importance of public awareness for fraud, stating it will be a key part of the forthcoming fraud strategy and mentioning a new public engagement team. However, it primarily highlights numerous existing awareness campaigns already run by various organisations and states it continues to support these.
Ministry of Justice
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Government Response AI assessment · 43 of 20 classified
Accepted 15
Accepted in Part 4
Acknowledged 6
Deferred 17
Not Addressed 1
Total 20 recs + 23 conclusions
Correspondence 5 letters
9 May 2023 To committee Letter from Rt Hon Tom Tugendhat MBE VR MP, Security Minister, dated 3 May 2023, on the publication of the Government’s Fraud Strategy
Parliament page
7 Dec 2022 From committee Letter to the Chairman of the Sentencing Council, dated 30 November 2022, on the Committee's report on Fraud and the Justice System
Parliament page
23 Nov 2022 To committee Letter from the Sentencing Council, dated 14 November 2022, on the Committe's report on Fraud and the Justice System
Parliament page
17 May 2022 To committee Letter from Damian Hinds MP, Minister for Security and Borders, dated 10 May 2022, on oral evidence follow up
Parliament page
10 May 2022 From committee Letter to Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP, Minister for Security and Borders, dated 28 April 2022, following oral evidence on fraud inquiry
Parliament page