Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau on dealing with cases referred to it by Action Fraud.

Reports submitted to Action Fraud are considered by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB).

The NFIB consider a number of factors, including whether there are any linked reports and the information provided about the suspects. Where there is sufficient evidence then the report will be analysed by a crime reviewer and sent to the appropriate police force to be considered for investigation.

We are replacing the Action Fraud service to create a more efficient new system that will provide better intelligence to forces. Improvements include:

• Increasing the number of staff in the call centre
• Expanding the reach of victim care services, including for the most vulnerable
• Sending cases to forces faster and better progress updates on cases

These improvements, which have been tested across the victim support landscape, law enforcement agencies, and other relevant bodies, will improve the support services and reporting tools for victims, provide greater intelligence and insight to policing for investigations, and allow for greater proactive work to prevent and disrupt fraudsters at scale.