Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Tackling fraud and corruption against government

Status: Closed Opened: 29 Mar 2023 Closed: 18 Nov 2023 2 recommendations 23 conclusions 1 report

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government Counter Fraud Function estimated that the level of taxpayer loss from fraud and error was already between £29.3 billion and £51.8 billion annually. Over the past two years the level of taxpayers’ funds lost to fraud has risen due to the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022 …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Sixty-Ninth Report - Tackling fraud and corruption against … HC 1230 8 Sep 2023 25 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

5 items
2 Recommendation Sixty-Ninth Report - Tackling fraud and… Rejected

Publish annual strategic intelligence report on government fraud and corruption levels and risk areas.

There are large gaps in government’s understanding of the extent and location of fraud and corruption risks. Most departments are exposed to several types of fraud and corruption risk in their income and spending, but few produce regular, reliable, and comprehensive estimates of the level of fraud and corruption of …

Government response. The government rejects the recommendation to publish a separate annual strategic intelligence report, stating the PSFA's High-Risk Fraud Portfolio will provide a strategic picture, and that disaggregating fraud and error is cost-intensive.
HM Treasury
9 Conclusion Sixty-Ninth Report - Tackling fraud and… Rejected

Many departments lack reliable fraud measurement despite significant estimated losses

Most departments are exposed to more than one type of fraud risk, while all have exposure to internal fraud and corruption risk.22 However, few departments produce regular, reliable, and comprehensive measurements on the level of fraud and corruption in major areas of their spending.23 PSFA estimates that, for the two-thirds …

Government response. The government disagrees, stating that while PSFA is creating a High-Risk Fraud Portfolio and will continue publishing annual Fraud Landscape Reports and conducting fraud measurement exercises, it will not publish a separate strategic intelligence report. Disaggregating fraud and error is …
HM Treasury
10 Conclusion Sixty-Ninth Report - Tackling fraud and… Rejected

Over half of government's fraud assessments deemed unreliable, impacting understanding of losses

Each FMA exercise covers a specific area of spend and estimates the level of fraud and error in that spending. Since 2014, the FMA programme comprised 62 assessments covering £224 billion of spending. The GCFF’s Oversight Board concluded that 32 of the assessments, representing more than half (57%) of assessed …

Government response. The government explicitly rejects the implied recommendation, stating it will not publish a separate strategic intelligence report or information that could increase fraud threats. Instead, the PSFA will create a "High-Risk Fraud Portfolio" and continue to publish annual Fraud Landscape …
HM Treasury
11 Conclusion Sixty-Ninth Report - Tackling fraud and… Rejected

Government increases fraud measurement experts while acknowledging challenges separating fraud and error

HM Treasury told us that to improve government’s fraud measurement capability, the number of fraud measurement experts will be doubling from 99 to about 180 across government.31 PSFA told us that it would not advocate departments to conduct fraud measurement exercises in all the areas where there are currently gaps …

Government response. The government explicitly rejects the implied recommendation to separate fraud and error due to cost and practicality, stating it is left to departmental discretion. It reasserts its focus on a "High-Risk Fraud Portfolio" and continued publication of annual reports, while …
HM Treasury
20 Conclusion Sixty-Ninth Report - Tackling fraud and… Rejected

A substantial gap persists between estimated and detected fraud outside tax and welfare.

Departments have detected an increasing amount of fraud and error outside of tax and welfare expenditure. Cabinet Office has reported that since 2014–15 departments have detected £0.9 billion of fraud.65 It is not, however, possible to tell whether the increase in detected fraud relates to better detection or increased occurrences …

Government response. The government disagrees, stating that while PSFA is developing a High-Risk Fraud Portfolio and will continue publishing annual Fraud Landscape Reports and conducting fraud measurement exercises, it will not publish a separate strategic intelligence report. Disaggregating fraud and error is …
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
15 May 2023 Alex Chisholm · Cabinet Office, James Bowler CB · HM Treasury, Mark Cheeseman OBE · Public Sector Fraud Authority View ↗

Correspondence

2 letters
DateDirectionTitle
19 Jun 2023 Correspondence from Alex Chisholm, Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Ca…
12 Jun 2023 Correspondence from Alex Chisholm, Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Ca…