Progress combatting fraud

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 31 Oct 2022 Closed: 27 Jun 2023 Parliament page
Fraud against both businesses and individuals is a serious and growing problem in the UK. The Home Office and the National Crime Agency (NCA) are responsible for delivering many of the government’s objectives on combatting fraud. The Home Office is also developing a new Fraud Action Plan. The Committee will … Read more
12 Recommendations
10 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
4 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 7 events
27 Jun
2023
Report published
31 Mar
2023
Report published
12 Jan
2023
Correspondence
12 Jan
2023
Correspondence
19 Dec
2022
Correspondence
19 Dec
2022
Correspondence
1 Dec
2022
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
1 Dec 2022
View on parliament.uk
Progress combatting fraud
Duncan Tessier · Home Office Graeme Biggar CBE · National Crime Agency Matthew Rycroft CBE · Home Office Pete O’Doherty · City of London Police
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Forty-Third Report - Progress combatting fraud HC 40 31 Mar 2023 22 Response document linked
Recommendations & Conclusions
22 results
2 Recommendation
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
Despite fraud being the most common crime in England and Wales, government’s communications with the...
Despite fraud being the most common crime in England and Wales, government’s communications with the public are still not effective. Fraud accounts for 41% of all crimes committed in England and Wales. Yet public recognition of the government’s fraud awareness … Read more
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3 Recommendation
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
Victims of fraud are being failed by Action Fraud, which risks undermining public trust in...
Victims of fraud are being failed by Action Fraud, which risks undermining public trust in the police. We are seriously concerned that the failures of Action Fraud in supporting victims of fraud has earned it the nickname “Inaction Fraud”. Many … Read more
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4 Recommendation
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
The Department has failed to support police forces to build the capacity or skills they...
The Department has failed to support police forces to build the capacity or skills they need to tackle fraud effectively. Despite making up 41% of all crime in the year to June 2022, only around 1% of police personnel are … Read more
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5 Conclusion
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
The criminal justice system’s current approach to penalising and sentencing fraudsters is insufficient to prevent...
The criminal justice system’s current approach to penalising and sentencing fraudsters is insufficient to prevent the UK being seen as a haven for fraudsters. Under the current system, law enforcement organisations can often spend longer investigating frauds than criminals receive … Read more
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6 Recommendation
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
The Department’s reliance on voluntary charters does not produce a strong enough incentive for industry...
The Department’s reliance on voluntary charters does not produce a strong enough incentive for industry to rapidly improve its response to fraud. Industry sectors, such as banking, technology and telecoms, have a vital role to play in designing out opportunities … Read more
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7 Recommendation
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
The Department has not prioritised developing relationships with international criminal justice agencies.
The Department has not prioritised developing relationships with international criminal justice agencies. Government estimates that around 70% of fraud cases have an international element, meaning that strong relationships with foreign and multinational criminal justice agencies are crucial to tackling fraud. … Read more
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1 Conclusion
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Home Office (the Department), The National Crime Agency (NCA) and City of London Police about progress combatting fraud against businesses and individuals.2
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8 Conclusion
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
We also raised concerns in 2017 about the effectiveness of the flagship “Take Five” awareness...
We also raised concerns in 2017 about the effectiveness of the flagship “Take Five” awareness campaign. Take Five was introduced by Financial Fraud Action UK (now part of UK Finance) in September 2016 and was backed by funding from the … Read more
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9 Conclusion
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
Action Fraud was launched in 2009 as the national reporting centre for fraud.
Action Fraud was launched in 2009 as the national reporting centre for fraud. Victims can report to Action Fraud if they have been scammed, defrauded or experienced cyber crime in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In 2019, the media reported … Read more
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10 Recommendation
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
More than 300,000 victims report their case directly to Action Fraud each year, and a...
More than 300,000 victims report their case directly to Action Fraud each year, and a further 600,000 reports come to Action Fraud from businesses and industry. But less than 1% of cases received by Action Fraud result in an offender … Read more
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11 Recommendation
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
The Department and the City of London Police are currently in the process of procuring...
The Department and the City of London Police are currently in the process of procuring a new Action Fraud system. We questioned them about their plans for the new system and how it will address the current issues. They told … Read more
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12 Recommendation
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
Despite making up 41% of all crime in the year to June 2022, only around...
Despite making up 41% of all crime in the year to June 2022, only around 1% of police personnel are dedicated to fraud. In 2017, we raised concerns that fraud was not mentioned in all Police & Crime Commissioners’ police … Read more
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13 Recommendation
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
The Department acknowledged that the current police resourcing levels for fraud needed to increase.
The Department acknowledged that the current police resourcing levels for fraud needed to increase. In April 2022, we reported on the Department’s Police Uplift Programme which aimed to recruit 20,000 new police officers.27 However, as set out in our sister … Read more
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14 Conclusion
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
City of London Police admitted that front-line officers do not have the training they need...
City of London Police admitted that front-line officers do not have the training they need to tackle fraud. It told us that “The constable on the ground will know very little 22 Public Accounts Committee, Sixth Report of Session 2017–19, … Read more
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15 Recommendation
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
We asked the Home Office whether police forces needed to consider fraud as a strategic...
We asked the Home Office whether police forces needed to consider fraud as a strategic objective, and be given the resources needed, so that the issues relating to fraud can start to be addressed. The Home Office told us that … Read more
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16 Conclusion
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
Under the current sentencing guidelines, fraud carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment, or...
Under the current sentencing guidelines, fraud carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment, or for crimes where the financial loss is less than £5,000, a maximum of one year. However, the majority of those found guilty of crimes with … Read more
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17 Recommendation
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
In October 2022, our sister Committee published its report, Fraud and the Justice System.
In October 2022, our sister Committee published its report, Fraud and the Justice System. This examined in depth how the criminal justice system is set up to tackle fraud. It concluded that a wholesale change in philosophy and practice was … Read more
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18 Conclusion
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
When we last examined the growing threat of fraud in 2017, we concluded that while...
When we last examined the growing threat of fraud in 2017, we concluded that while the Department was the only body that could provide strategic national leadership, fraud had become too vast a problem for it to tackle on its … Read more
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19 Conclusion
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
In October 2021, the Department also published its first tranche of voluntary sector charters, covering...
In October 2021, the Department also published its first tranche of voluntary sector charters, covering the retail banking, accountancy, and telecoms sectors. These set out commitments from the industry sectors on actions they will take to tackle fraud and are … Read more
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20 Recommendation
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
The Department acknowledged that its voluntary approach to working with industry had caused inconsistencies for...
The Department acknowledged that its voluntary approach to working with industry had caused inconsistencies for victims and explained that it was beginning to introduce some mandatory measures. For example, it told us that only about 50% of victims of authorised … Read more
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21 Conclusion
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
Fraud is a global issue and criminals are increasingly using the internet to target victims...
Fraud is a global issue and criminals are increasingly using the internet to target victims from anywhere in the world. In the year to June 2022, 80% of frauds in England and Wales were enabled through computer technology, and the … Read more
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22 Conclusion
Forty-Third Report - Progress comb…
City of London Police acknowledged that having the mechanisms to work internationally is important to...
City of London Police acknowledged that having the mechanisms to work internationally is important to allow the government to work proactively to tackle fraud. However, the NCA was admitted that government “really do have a lot more to do” when … Read more
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Correspondence 4 letters
12 Jan 2023 Correspondence from Mark Cheeseman, Interim CEO, Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA), re Public Accounts Committee Response for the 9th Report of the Session held in 2021/2 on Counter Fraud, dated 19 December 2022
Parliament page
12 Jan 2023 Correspondence from Matthew Rycroft CBE, Permanent Secretary, Home Office, re Progress Combatting Fraud – update, dated 15 December 2022
Parliament page
19 Dec 2022 Correspondence from Matthew Rycroft CBE, Permanent Secretary, Home Office, re Progress Combatting Fraud – further update, dated 15 December 2022
Parliament page
19 Dec 2022 Correspondence from Graeme Biggar CBE, Director General, National Crime Agency, re additional information – Progress Combatting Fraud, dated 15 December 2022
Parliament page