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
6 results
Clear
5 Conclusion Acknowledged
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Prioritise fraud victim support for most vulnerable; train responders to identify needs.
Fraud crimes do not impact victims equally and due to limitations in victim support capacity, efforts to support victims of fraud should be focused on those who need it most. It is therefore vital that responders to these crimes have … Read more
Government Response
The government committed to improving call centre capacity with new suppliers, launching a new reporting tool and website next year, and implementing automated SMS and a chatbot to ease reporting, but did not specify how support would be targeted to the most vulnerable.
Ministry of Justice
View details
6 Conclusion Acknowledged
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Inconsistent fraud victim support across police forces lacks national standards.
Support available for victims of fraud is patchy and inconsistent. Thirty-seven police forces currently work with victim care units. However this is not compulsory and there is currently no national standard for fraud victim care.
Government Response
The government agreed victims need support and allocated £30 million for Action Fraud upgrades, aiming to refresh the service by 2024 with a new reporting tool in 2023, but did not commit to a national standard for victim care or all 43 forces working with units by end of 2023.
Ministry of Justice
View details
15 Recommendation Acknowledged
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Introduce legislative changes to allow flexible compensation order value adjustments for victims.
The Government should introduce changes to compensation order legislation to allow for flexibility in altering the order value if a criminal is later found to have assets of greater value which can be used to compensate victims of their crimes. … Read more
Government Response
The government did not commit to specific changes in compensation order legislation but outlined its agreement on a unified response to fraud and stated it will shortly publish a new strategy detailing efforts to stop fraud, empower victims, and prosecute fraudsters.
Ministry of Justice
View details
24 Recommendation Acknowledged
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Police training needs review to reflect evolving technology-exploiting crime landscape.
The College of Policing should conduct a review of the training offered to front- line staff to ensure it reflects the changing crime landscape and provides a strong foundation in crimes that exploit technology such as fraud. (Paragraph 88) 40 … Read more
Government Response
The government is supportive of the College of Policing's (CoP) desire for high standards of learning and notes CoP is already working with City of London Police to review policing arrangements for fraud. It acknowledges more work is needed and continues to support CoP's collaborative plans, while detailing current training provisions.
Ministry of Justice
View details
27 Recommendation Acknowledged
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Application of disclosure rules is problematic in digital fraud cases, requiring clearer guidelines.
Our inquiry heard of problems with the application of disclosure rules which can result in significant amounts of police and prosecution time being spent redacting and disclosing vast amounts of material that turns out to be unnecessary to the case … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the complexity of disclosure, particularly with digital material, noting past revisions to guidelines and ongoing work. It states the forthcoming fraud strategy will detail aims for the disclosure regime in complex fraud cases.
Ministry of Justice
View details
37 Conclusion Acknowledged
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Just…
Failure to prevent fraud' offence could improve corporate behaviour and prevention efforts.
The ‘failure to prevent’ offence for bribery has had success in driving better corporate behaviours. A similar offence for failure to prevent fraud being perpetrated using a company’s platforms would not only aid prosecution for these failures but focus private … Read more
Government Response
The government recognises the limitations of current corporate criminal liability laws and is considering the Law Commission’s paper from June 2022 to strengthen the law, including the creation of a 'failure to prevent fraud' offence. It also highlights the Online Safety Bill's new duty on companies to prevent fraud on their platforms.
Ministry of Justice
View details
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