Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Accepted
We asked the Home Office whether police forces needed to consider fraud as a strategic...
Recommendation
We asked the Home Office whether police forces needed to consider fraud as a strategic objective, and be given the resources needed, so that the issues relating to fraud can start to be addressed. The Home Office told us that it had “heard that message loud and clear” and that it was hopeful that the issue would have progressed by the net iteration of the Strategic Policing Requirements. Following our evidence session, in February 2023 the Home Office published its Strategic Policing Requirement, which referenced the threat of fraud and confirmed that it would produce a fraud supplement to provide greater detail on what is expected regarding the response to fraud.31 The criminal justice response
Government Response Summary
The government is increasing law enforcement investigative capacity to tackle fraud by launching the National Fraud Squad (NFS), which will include over 400 new posts across policing and the NCA by 2025. The revised Strategic Policing Requirement gives greater prominence to fraud.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4. PAC conclusion: The Department has failed to support police forces to build the capacity or skills they need to tackle fraud effectively. 4. PAC recommendation: The Department should outline, as part of its Treasury Minute response, how it will increase both the priority of tackling fraud within territorial police forces and the capacity of police forces to investigate cases. The Department also needs to step up its support to police forces to ensure they can tackle fraud more effectively. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Ongoing until Spring 2025 4.2 The government is increasing law enforcement investigative capacity to tackle fraud. We announced the launch of the National Fraud Squad (NFS) in the Fraud Strategy. This will include over 400 new posts across policing and the NCA by 2025. The NFS will investigate and disrupt more fraudsters through strategic coordination at a regional and national level. 4.3 The NFS will be jointly led by City of London Police (CoLP) and National Crime Agency (NCA). CoLP, as the national lead police force for fraud, will increase its view across wider policing’s activity on fraud, disseminating intelligence, promoting best practice and holding forces to account for delivery. NCA, as the operational system lead, will lead operational work across law enforcement, the intelligence community and industry focusing on a more proactive response to tackling fraud. The NFS will share intelligence in real-time to understand the threat and take proactive enforcement action across government and the private sector against the most harmful fraudsters targeting the UK public. 4.4 The revised Strategic Policing Requirement gives greater prominence to fraud. This will focus police efforts to tackle fraud and maximise the output of existing police resourcing, by helping local forces better exploit NCA and CoLP’s national capabilities.