Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the total cost of fraud and error to government departments in the latest year for which figures are available.

The Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA), established in August 2022, works with government departments and public bodies to understand and reduce the impact of fraud and error against the public sector. In line with the PSFA Mandate public bodies are required to report identified fraud and error loss figures to the PSFA.

The most up to date estimate used by the PSFA, relating to financial year 20/21 suggests that the annual level of fraud and error against the government is between £33bn and £55bn. This estimate excludes fraud and error within COVID-19 schemes as fraud measurement activity within these schemes is still ongoing.

The new Government Counter Fraud Profession Strategy sets out how the government is increasing the capability of staff within government and beyond to tackle fraud.