Select committee: Justice Committee
Recommendation 10
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Justice System
Published 18 Oct 2022
Paragraph 42
Addressed to Ministry of Justice
Justice Committee Fraud and the Justice System All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
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 swiftly to a resolution, all while keeping the victim updated on the actions being taken. Action Fraud has not proved itself to be fit for these purposes and is not sufficiently resourced to meet the growing and varied challenges of fraud. Action Fraud is due to be replaced in 2024; however, victims should not have to wait until then before they begin to see an improvement to the mechanisms for reporting fraud and monitoring the progress of their cases. The Government should take steps now to address these issues.
From: Justice Committee, Fourth Report - Fraud and the Justice System (HC 12), paragraph 42, 18 October 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 11 January 2023 (deadline 18 December 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government welcomes the report and sets out its response to its recommendations, agreeing on several points, including victim support, Action Fraud and tech charters, while saying other matters, such as sentencing guidelines, are for others to decide.
- On victim support, the Government "agrees that it is imperative that all victims of fraud receive enough support and advice". NECVCU coverage is to reach 40 of 43 forces at Level 1 and 34 of 43 at Level 2 "from April 2023", with work continuing with the remaining forces.
- On Action Fraud, it is replacing the service "in 2024" and providing £30 million to City of London Police over three years. A new reporting tool and website will be launched "in 2023". On staffing, it says this "may require more staff, or it may require better use of technology".
- On a failure to prevent fraud offence, the Government is working across Government to consider the Law Commission's paper and "determine a case" for strengthening corporate criminal liability, "including the creation of an offence for failure to prevent fraud".
- It does not commit to dedicated economic crime courts, saying they "would not in itself increase overall capacity". On sentencing guidelines, it says it is "for the Council to consider the response". It agrees that further charters with tech companies matter, and intends to launch a tech and online charter "next year".