Written questions, answers and statements

Scotland Office: Fraud

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Question for Scotland Office

UIN 22929, tabled on 22 April 2024

Question

Dame Nia Griffith
Labour
Llanelli
Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he has taken to reduce the cost of fraud in his Department in the last three financial years.

Answer

Mr Alister Jack
Conservative
Dumfries and Galloway
Commons

Answered on

26 April 2024

The Scotland Office reported no cases of fraud or amounts lost due to fraud or error in any of the last three financial years. This is disclosed as part of the Annual Report and Accounts available on GOV.UK.

The Government is determined to uncover fraud in the public sector and is proud of its record. As part of this, the Government established the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA).

In 22/23, the PSFA set a target of delivering £180m of savings to the taxpayer. In fact, the PSFA far surpassed this within the first 12 months by preventing and recovering £311 million. As it enters its second year, the PSFA has a target of achieving £185 million of savings for the taxpayer.

The Government has also announced an additional £34 million to deploy cutting-edge tools and Artificial Intelligence tools to help combat fraud across the public sector, saving £100 million for the public purse. This is in addition to existing partnerships between PSFA and the tech sector.

Answered by

Scotland Office
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