The Department acknowledged that fraud is a serious risk, and that as a large, complex organisation that spends very significant amounts of money on complex procurement, it has a particular reason to be focused on fraud compared with other parts of government.18 We expressed scepticism that the Department recognises the scale of the challenge it faces and asked it to explain how it will give the issue of fraud the seriousness it requires.19 The Department noted that it had taken steps to improve, but accepted that there is more it needs to do to get better at managing the risk of 12 Qq 2-3 13 Qq 3-4 14 Letter from Ministry of Defence, 20 March 2026 15 Qq 2 and 4 16 C&AG’s Report, para 5 17 Committee of Public Accounts, Tackling fraud and corruption against government, Sixty- Ninth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 1230, 8 September 2023, Summary and conclusion 1 18 Q 5 19 Qq 5, 19, 28-29 and 59 10 fraud.20 In particular it told us that a “cultural shift” is needed to ensure collaboration and regular engagement between the various parts of Defence with a role in tackling fraud.21