Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 18
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)
On the deterrence effect of convictions and whether there is a sufficient level of convictions to create a suitable deterrent, the PSFA told us that it was not aware of any evidence to indicate what the right level of prosecutions would be to create a deterrent.56 After our evidence session, the Cabinet Office wrote to us providing us with statistics for the main areas of government’s prosecution activity, including HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and Department for Work & Pensions (DWP). Between 2019–20 and 2021–22, HMRC’s criminal investigations had led to the prosecution of 1,090 and the conviction of 983 individuals. Between 2020–21 and 2022–23, DWP referred 1,213 cases to the Crown Prosecution Service or Procurator Fiscal for prosecution, and secured 1,154 convictions.57 While it acknowledged the importance of prosecutions and convictions, the PSFA said it was important to make use of the full suite of interventions available to government in tackling fraud and corruption, for example, better controls, better prevention and better use of data analytics. Cabinet Office told us about the importance of getting the balance between civil and criminal sanctions right. While successful criminal sanctions can create a very strong deterrent effect, they can also be expensive and time-consuming.58 Civil sanctions on the other hand can be discharged more quickly and with a lower burden of proof but may not offer the same deterrent effect.59
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".