Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 15
Sixty-Ninth Report - Tackling fraud and corruption against government
Published 8 Sep 2023
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Tackling fraud and corruption against government All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic underlined the need to design counter-fraud measures, including controls, reporting and recovery, into new initiatives at an early stage of the policy cycle. Government could have maintained several basic standards of public accountability to minimise opportunities for fraud and corruption. It could have: increased transparency to parliament and the public; better managed conflicts of interest; promptly addressed known vulnerabilities; and ensured timely financial reporting.46 The Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) recognised the imperative to build in fraud and corruption controls when new schemes are introduced. HM Treasury and the PSFA told us that government, to achieve its aim of designing out fraud from the start, has now introduced Initial Fraud Impact Assessments (IFIAs), which are embedded within HM Treasury’s formal spending approval processes.47 IFIAs are rapid initial assessments of the likely fraud risks in new major spending initiatives.48 HM Treasury told us that 700 of its staff have been trained on matters relating to fraud to ensure they are able to fulfil their responsibilities on scrutinising departmental IFIAs.49
From: Public Accounts Committee, Sixty-Ninth Report - Tackling fraud and corruption against government (HC 1230), 8 September 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 18 November 2023 (deadline 8 November 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with most of the Committee's recommendations on tackling fraud and corruption against government, but disagrees with the recommendation for a separate annual strategic intelligence report.
- On a strategic intelligence report, the government disagrees. The PSFA "will not publish a separate strategic intelligence report", and says it will not publish information that could increase the fraud threat by showing how attacks could be executed.
- It will continue to publish annual Fraud Landscape Reports and bulletins. It says separating fraud from error requires determining intent, which is "cost intensive", so this is left to the discretion of individual departments.
- The government agrees the PSFA should update the Committee in 12 months on the outcome of the next Workforce and Performance Review, with a target implementation date of September 2024.
- On a cross-government communications strategy, the government agrees, with a target implementation date of June 2024. A working group "will develop and maintain a cross-government communications plan".