Recommendation 24

HM Treasury told us that while it may appear reasonable to extend the PSFA’s remit to also cover local government, there are different governance architectures across central and local government, and any change to the roles and responsibilities of the PSFA would entail “a very large increase” in the mandate of the PSFA and there are no plans to take such a course of action. HM Treasury brought to our attention a cost-sharing agreement that they had agreed with local authorities to provide them with £200 million for the administration of the schemes.76 HM Treasury agreed to engage with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ascertain what more government could do to support counter-fraud activities in local authorities.77