Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Sixty-Ninth Report - Tackling fraud and corruption against government
Public Accounts Committee
HC 1230
Published 8 September 2023
Recommendations
2
Rejected
Publish annual strategic intelligence report on government fraud and corruption levels and risk areas.
Recommendation
There are large gaps in government’s understanding of the extent and location of fraud and corruption risks. Most departments are exposed to several types of fraud and corruption risk in their income and spending, but few produce regular, reliable, and …
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Government Response Summary
The government rejects the recommendation to publish a separate annual strategic intelligence report, stating the PSFA's High-Risk Fraud Portfolio will provide a strategic picture, and that disaggregating fraud and error is cost-intensive.
HM Treasury
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Conclusions (4)
9
Conclusion
Rejected
Most departments are exposed to more than one type of fraud risk, while all have exposure to internal fraud and corruption risk.22 However, few departments produce regular, reliable, and comprehensive measurements on the level of fraud and corruption in major areas of their spending.23 PSFA estimates that, for the two-thirds …
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees, stating that while PSFA is creating a High-Risk Fraud Portfolio and will continue publishing annual Fraud Landscape Reports and conducting fraud measurement exercises, it will not publish a separate strategic intelligence report. Disaggregating fraud and error is considered cost-intensive and discretionary for departments.
10
Conclusion
Rejected
Each FMA exercise covers a specific area of spend and estimates the level of fraud and error in that spending. Since 2014, the FMA programme comprised 62 assessments covering £224 billion of spending. The GCFF’s Oversight Board concluded that 32 of the assessments, representing more than half (57%) of assessed …
Government Response Summary
The government explicitly rejects the implied recommendation, stating it will not publish a separate strategic intelligence report or information that could increase fraud threats. Instead, the PSFA will create a "High-Risk Fraud Portfolio" and continue to publish annual Fraud Landscape Reports, while supporting departments in targeted fraud measurement.
11
Conclusion
Rejected
HM Treasury told us that to improve government’s fraud measurement capability, the number of fraud measurement experts will be doubling from 99 to about 180 across government.31 PSFA told us that it would not advocate departments to conduct fraud measurement exercises in all the areas where there are currently gaps …
Government Response Summary
The government explicitly rejects the implied recommendation to separate fraud and error due to cost and practicality, stating it is left to departmental discretion. It reasserts its focus on a "High-Risk Fraud Portfolio" and continued publication of annual reports, while declining to publish information that could aid fraudsters.
20
Conclusion
Rejected
Departments have detected an increasing amount of fraud and error outside of tax and welfare expenditure. Cabinet Office has reported that since 2014–15 departments have detected £0.9 billion of fraud.65 It is not, however, possible to tell whether the increase in detected fraud relates to better detection or increased occurrences …
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees, stating that while PSFA is developing a High-Risk Fraud Portfolio and will continue publishing annual Fraud Landscape Reports and conducting fraud measurement exercises, it will not publish a separate strategic intelligence report. Disaggregating fraud and error is deemed cost-intensive and discretionary for departments.