Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the (a) performance and (b) efficacy of Action Fraud.

Action Fraud is the national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime. Reports received by Action Fraud are considered by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), both of which are operated by the City of London Police as the UK’s lead force for fraud.

In light of advances to technology and growing demand on the service and an independent review by Sir Craig Mackey exploring the performance and function of Action Fraud, we are providing over £30 million to City of London Police over the next three years to support the upgrade of the Action Fraud service.

Improvements are already being rolled out on an ongoing basis, with the new service expected to be fully operational by 2024. The upgrades will provide better support services and reporting tools for victims, produce greater intelligence and insight for policing so they can investigate more frauds, and allow for greater prevention and disruption at scale using this intelligence