Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of police resources have been allocated to fraud investigation in each of the last 10 years.

The decision on whether to investigate a crime rests solely with the police who will take into account available resources, the likely eventual outcome and other criminal cases already under investigation. Additionally, it is the duty of Police and Crime Commissioners to set out their priorities for their police force in a Police and Crime Plan. As such, there is no ringfenced resource allocated to fraud investigation alone, and for this reason, the data requested is not held centrally.

The department is committed to tackling the devastating impact of fraud. Setting police budgets for 2020 to 2021, this government has prioritised £150 million to tackle serious and organised crime. This includes substantial investment on fraud.