Recommendation 21

We asked why the value of detected fraud at franchised providers has increased almost sevenfold, from £329,831 in 2018/19 to £2,163,459 in 2022/23, when the number of 43 Universities UK (ISL0002) 44 Universities UK (ISL0002) 45 Qq 39–41, 74; C&AG’s Report, para 2.19 46 Q 74 47 Qq39, 41, 76 48 Universities UK (ISL0002) 49 C&AG’s Report, para 2.3 50 Committee of Public Accounts, Tackling fraud and corruption against government, Sixty-Ninth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 1230, 8 September 2023 51 Qq10, 51, 65, 77 52 Qq12, 52 53 Qq54, 77 14 Student loans issued to those studying at franchised higher education providers students at these providers has not increased at the same rate.54 SLC told us that it shared our concern at what appears to be a disproportionate increase in the franchised element of individual-level fraud detected, but emphasised that this is driven by a small number of franchised providers.55 DfE accepted that some lead providers had not taken their responsibilities for governance and safeguards in their franchised provision as seriously as within their own institutions.56