Fraud means obtaining
goods, services or money by deceptive means, and is a growing problem in
the UK. The Attorney General gave a speech on 15 November 2005 on this subject.
Progress
has been made on the government's fraud review. The Attorney General
published the interim report. The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith,
welcomed the progress of the review so far into an area of crime which is
second only to drug trafficking in causing harm to the economy and
society
Fraud review
The Government has commissioned an interdepartmental review into the
detection, investigation and prosecution of fraud. The review began work
on 11 October 2005 (see press release and terms of reference) and will
consider the scope for improving the current arrangements, with the
objective of reducing the extent of fraud and minimising the harm it
causes to the economy and wider society. In particular the review will
address the following questions:
The review will be overseen
by the Attorney General and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. The
review team will consult widely with stakeholders in the public and
private sectors before delivering its report by late spring 2006.
Facts and figures
Fraud has been estimated to cost the economy at least £14 billion a year
- in stolen assets, lost revenues, the costs of prevention and
investigation - not to mention damage to the economy and harm to victims
lives. Legal aid costs are significant for fraud, with the most expensive
cases costing around £95m per annum. Fraud is also expensive for the rest
of government, in investigation, regulatory, prosecution and court costs.
The Government is committed to reducing the amount of fraud in the UK.
This report by the Association of Chief Police Officers may be helpful:
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Changing the law
on fraud
In May 2005, the Government introduced the Fraud Bill. This includes new
measures for modernising the law to equip investigators and prosecutors
with the necessary tools to keep pace with the changing world of fraud,
including new threats such as phishing (sending an email to a user
falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt
to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used
for identity theft) and internet fraud.
In addition, legislation is currently before Parliament to introduce a
single offence of fraud and to allow for non-jury trials in certain
complex and lengthy serious fraud trials. These measures should provide
speedier and more efficient justice. But, even after making these
changes, our response to fraud must be strengthened.
Your views
We would like to hear your views on how the Government can more
effectively tackle fraud. Please note that we will not be able to respond
to individual cases of fraud.
For more information please contact:
