The Public Sector Fraud Authority will be made up of counter fraud and data experts, using best-in-class tools and advanced analytics to help departments and public bodies protect public money. It will be supported by a cross-sector advisory panel that will provide expert advice and help shape the strategic approach to public sector fraud prevention and reduction. The advisory panel will have a chair, who will be announced in September.
Backed by £25 million of new funding, the organisation will modernise the government’s counter-fraud response, working with departments and public bodies to test their fraud defences, using leading practice and modern techniques, and then to help them put stronger safeguards in place. It will do this by:
- Agreeing to ambitious counter-fraud plans for departments and public bodies and reviewing progress
- Regularly and directly briefing cabinet ministers including HM Treasury and Cabinet Office on the latest fraud landscape
- Providing expert support to departments and public bodies about the fraud risks and threats they face, then help to design defences against them and test their effectiveness
- Building a new National Counter Fraud Data Analytics Service that will provide advanced data capabilities, such as social network analysis, to surface, fight and prevent fraud against taxpayers
- Enhancing the use of fraud intelligence across the public sector, and with other sectors, to combat specific threats
The Public Sector Fraud Authority will launch with a target of working with departments and public bodies to detect and prevent £180 million of fraud. This will be delivered in part by supporting BEIS and bank lenders with advanced data analytics expertise and tools to find fraud and recover fraud linked to the Bounce Back Loan scheme.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Clarke, said the new body will put a laser-like focus on fraud and renew efforts to combat people taking advantage of public services and support.
“It will reinforce wider investment in government to crack down on fraud and mis-claiming, including £210 million for HMRC to further tackle fraud, and £510 million for DWP to target welfare fraud in 2021,” he said.
Ahead of a permanently appointed head of the authority, the organisation will be led by Mark Cheeseman OBE, an internationally recognised expert in public sector fraud, who led the creation of the government’s Counter Fraud Profession and the set-up of the International Public Sector Fraud Forum – a collaboration between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the US and the UK to share, agree and publish leading practice on fraud management in the public sector.
The launch builds on the recent success of the National Fraud Initiative (NFI), a service run by counter-fraud experts in the Cabinet Office that uses technology and data matching to find and prevent fraud. Between 2020 and 2022, the service was used to detect and prevent more than £200 million of public sector pension fraud.
