Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Fourth Report - Fraud and the Justice System
Justice Committee
HC 12
Published 18 October 2022
Recommendations
10
Accepted
Para 42
Implement immediate steps to improve fraud reporting mechanisms and case progression for victims.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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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21
Accepted
Para 82
Fraud receives disproportionately low police funding and officer allocation despite prevalence.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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
Accepted
Para 82
Government funding and police resourcing for fraud response remain insufficient.
Recommendation
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 Summary
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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33
Accepted
Para 133
Upcoming Fraud Action Plan needs clear roles for public and private sectors.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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
Accepted
Para 137
Tech and telecom companies show insufficient engagement preventing fraud on their platforms.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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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36
Accepted
Para 138
Establish charters with social media and tech companies to ensure fraud accountability.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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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43
Accepted
Plan a national awareness campaign to raise public awareness of fraud prevention measures.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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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Conclusions (8)
1
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 9
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, there are no signs of a reversal in the upward …
Government Response Summary
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.
16
Conclusion
Accepted
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 a significant financial impact on the UK economy, as well …
Government Response Summary
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.
23
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 88
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 types whereas there is clearly a need for it to …
Government Response Summary
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.
25
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 101
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, which are not always seen as a priority for listing. …
Government Response Summary
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.
32
Conclusion
Accepted
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 stakeholders around the ambition to reduce fraud. The relaunch of …
Government Response Summary
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.
35
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 138
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 Summary
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.
41
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 158
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 Summary
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.
42
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 163
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 the level of resources required to proliferate messages about fraud …
Government Response Summary
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.