National Audit Office: Home Office using outdated fraud data  

Fraud made up 41% of crime in the year leading up to June 2022 in the UK, however, the number of fraud offences resulting in a charge or summons fell from 6,402 in 2017 to 4,816 in 2022. 

The report states that there are significant gaps in the Home Office’s knowledge of fraud, and that the data they are currently using is based off 2015-16 estimates. 

In its 2017 report Online fraud, the NAO concluded that fraud had been overlooked by the government, law enforcement, and industry, and demanded an urgent response. 

The NAO report said: “The [Home Office] does not have a complete or up-to-date estimate of the cost of fraud to the economy. 

“Its most recent estimate of the cost of fraud to individuals is £4.7bn [in 2015-16 prices]. This is based on 2015-16 data and the department is currently working on a more up-to-date estimate.” 

Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO: “It does not have any reliable estimate of the cost of fraud to businesses. It also has a limited understanding of the perpetrators of fraud or those who enable it by their action or inaction.” 

“Five years on from our last report on this subject, the Home Office has taken limited action to improve its response to fraud. Its approach has lacked clarity of purpose, it does not have the data it needs to understand the full scale of the problem, and it is not able to accurately measure the impact of its policies on this growing area of crime. 

“For its planned Fraud Strategy to succeed, the Home Office must be vigorous in leading a cross-government response that is informed by a thorough understanding of what works in combatting fraud.”