Ambitious new plans for stepping up the government’s fight
against fraud have been unveiled today (Thursday 2 March).
The Counter Fraud Profession Strategy outlines how the new Public
Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) will increase the skills, standards
and capability of staff within government and beyond working on
protecting public services from fraud.
As well as investing in counter fraud investigation skills, the
cornerstone of the profession, the new strategy increases the
focus on skills in fraud prevention and identification.
The government is also upskilling those that lead public sector
counter fraud work and ensuring the 7,000 counter fraud
professionals working across the public sector continue to
develop their knowledge and skills. This will include 250 fraud
risk experts trained by the end of 2023.
Apprenticeships are also a key focus of the new strategy, with
the PSFA launching in 2024 a new Apprenticeship in Counter Fraud.
This will run alongside the existing Fraud Investigation
Apprenticeship.
The new strategy has been
developed and will be delivered in collaboration with government,
law enforcement and industry counter fraud and learning experts.
It will create a diverse and skilled pipeline of counter fraud
talent to prevent fraud against the public sector.
The Public Sector Fraud Authority is partnering with experts
including from Cifas, University of Coventry and the Australia
Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre to deliver the strategy.
It is estimated the cost of fraud and error against the public
sector is at least £33 billion per year. Although often hidden,
fraud is the most pervasive crime in the UK and must be rooted
out.
Mark Cheeseman, Interim CEO of the PSFA and Head of the
Government Counter Fraud Profession said:
Fraudsters are a committed, capable and evolving adversary and
the public sector is just as affected by this hidden crime as
other sectors.
The launch of the new Government Counter Fraud Profession (GCFP)
strategy sets out how the government is investing in building and
modernising its fraud fighting capability.
The GCFP was launched in 2018 to develop a common structure for
counter fraud capability across government and for those leading
the fight against the crime.
At its inception the Profession had 3,000 members across 17
organisations including HM Revenue and Customs, the Department
for Work and Pensions, and the Serious Fraud Office.
Since then it has grown exponentially and it now has around 7,000
members across 48 organisations, including policing and local
government.
