Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Accepted
In October 2021, the Department also published its first tranche of voluntary sector charters, covering...
Conclusion
In October 2021, the Department also published its first tranche of voluntary sector charters, covering the retail banking, accountancy, and telecoms sectors. These set out commitments from the industry sectors on actions they will take to tackle fraud and are monitored by the Joint Fraud Taskforce. The Department told us that these have yielded some positive results. For example, it told us that, following a charter commitment with the telecoms sector to introduce new software to try to reduce the number of scam text messages, some operators had seen a 90% reduction.39 However, in written evidence submitted to the Committee, UK Finance, a major representative body for the financial services sector, told us it would “encourage the Government to re-evaluate the continued focus on the Charters given the advent of the Government’s Fraud Strategy.”40
Government Response Summary
The government will continue using voluntary charters to tackle fraud. It expects to cut fraud by 10% by end of 2024 and will publish further charters, including with the insurance sector by early 2024 and will appoint an Anti-Fraud Champion.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
6. PAC conclusion: The Department’s reliance on voluntary charters does not produce a strong enough incentive for industry to rapidly improve its response to fraud. 6. PAC recommendation: The Department should set out, as part of its Treasury Minute response, how voluntary charters will contribute to its fraud strategy, including what changes it expects to see as a result of the charters, by when these will be achieved and what action it will take if they are not. 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Ongoing until Spring 2025 6.2 Tackling fraud requires government, law enforcement and different industry sectors to work collaboratively towards the same aim, harnessing expertise, resources and powers. The sector charters provide the necessary structure to turn goodwill into clear actions to support the overall Strategy goal to cut fraud by 10% by end of 2024. 6.3 The department has seen progress since the launch of the first tranche of Charters. All mobile network operators have implemented firewall solutions to detect and block scam texts reaching consumers. Subsequently, 600 million scam texts have been blocked and reports to the 7726 service where these can be reported have fallen by over 85%. 6.4 In 2022, the Payment System Regulator (PSR) closed a consultation to support the actions to prevent authorised fraud and protect customers in the banking sector charter. The government is now introducing measures in the Financial Services and Markets Bill to allow the PSR to mandate reimbursement to fraud victims. The government is also legislating to give banks the power to delay suspicious payments to help prevent fraud. 6.5 The government will publish further charters, including with the insurance sector by early 2024. Work is underway on the Online Fraud Charter, with the government seeking concrete actions on proposals such as improving reporting, data sharing and transparency. 6.6 The government has appointed Anthony Browne MP as Anti-Fraud Champion to drive work with industry and ensure that companies are incentivised to combat fraud and to explore