Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the management of Action Fraud by the City of London Police.

The City of London Police undertake a national lead force role for the investigation of serious and complex fraud cases. The Home Office remains committed to improving the law enforcement response to fraud. That is why we requested that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) conduct a thematic inspection on fraud, including Action Fraud, and set out measures for improving the response to fraud in our Economic Crime Plan, which was published in July. The City of London Police (as the National Lead Force for fraud) is currently implementing recommendations within HMICFRS’ inspection report, which was published on 2^nd April.

The scale and complexity of the threat from serious and organised crime means that we need to do more to develop our response. The Government therefore recently announced a formal review to identify the powers, capabilities, governance and funding needed in response to this threat.