Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Fraud Reduction

Thursday 9 June 2022 · 6 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Government spending 24 million on a public sector fraud authority to reduce fraud.
  • Minister emphasizes the importance of proper expenditure of taxpayers' money.
  • Government aims to increase productivity by reducing the number of civil servants.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Alexander Stafford
Taxation Benefits & Welfare
Context

The MP is concerned about protecting public funds from fraud.

Question

What steps his Department is taking to protect the public purse by reducing fraud?

Answer from Jacob Rees-Mogg

We have spent taxpayers' money on building counter-fraud services, including the counter fraud function, counter fraud profession and a data analytics hub. Her Majesty's Treasury and the Cabinet Office are going further, spending £24 million on a public sector fraud authority, which will bring increased scrutiny to counter-fraud performance and build a broader and deeper expert service for public bodies.

Answered
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Q2 Alexander Stafford
Economy Democracy & Elections Standards & Ethics
Context

The Labour party's past is accused of causing £500 per year in fraud and error for each taxpayer. The MP seeks information on actions to reverse this.

Question

The Labour party cost each individual hard-working taxpayer £500 a year through fraud and error when it was last in office. Can my right hon. Friend confirm what action he is taking to reverse Labour's shocking legacy and oversee cost-cutting programmes across Government?

Answer from Jacob Rees-Mogg

My hon. Friend is a doughty champion of the proper expenditure of taxpayers' money, which we always remember it is; the Government have no funds of their own. We have announced significant efforts on the counter-fraud service, most recently with the announcement on the public sector fraud authority, which is part of a wider programme of £750 million.

Answered
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Q3 Andrew Gwynne Ind Gorton and Denton
Economy Business & Trade
Context

The Public Accounts Committee found £4.9 billion in fraudulent bounce back loans. The MP wants to know about actions being taken to recover this money.

Question

I could not agree more with the Minister. Let us have a bankable return for the taxpayer, because the Public Accounts Committee has found that £4.9 billion of money given in bounce back loans is fraudulent. What is he doing to get almost £5 billion back for the taxpayer?

Answer from Jacob Rees-Mogg

I am glad to say we have Corporal Hindsight on duty in the Chamber this morning. The socialists were calling for bounce back loans to be issued faster, and therefore, inevitably, with fewer checks at the time. The public sector fraud authority is being set up and the fraud departments within Government are working with the British Business Bank and with banks—I have seen a number of them personally—to get them to use their systems to claim the money back from people who have taken it fraudulently.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The response does not provide specific details on measures or timelines for recovering £4.9 billion.

How: Corporal Hindsight

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Q4 Christopher Chope Con Christchurch
Standards & Ethics
Context

Concerns about internal fraud in the Government due to low productivity and bloated public services.

Question

But what is my right hon. Friend doing about the internal fraud within the Government, caused by low productivity and bloated and dysfunctional public services?

Answer from Jacob Rees-Mogg

My hon. Friend is a great one for holding the Government and the bureaucracy to account, and he is right to do so. That is why we are looking to significant productivity increases by reducing the number of civil servants back to where it was in 2016, to ensure that services are provided to the public efficiently and effectively.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The response does not provide specific details on measures or timelines for addressing internal fraud.

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Q5 Angela Rayner Lab Ashton-under-Lyne
Crime & Law Enforcement Standards & Ethics
Context

A Conservative peer is under investigation for fraud linked to Government contracts awarded during the pandemic.

Question

The Leader of the House talks about socialists, but let us talk about the Conservatives. He will be aware that a Conservative peer is under investigation by the National Crime Agency over fraud. PPE Medpro, a company linked to Baroness Mone, was handed hundreds of millions of pounds in Government contracts during the pandemic.

Answer from Jacob Rees-Mogg

I was going to point out to the right hon. Lady that business questions will follow in due course and that that would be her opportunity to raise such things with the Leader of the House.

Not addressed: The MP's question about evidence and reasons for non-disclosure was entirely ignored.

How: Deflecting To Business Questions

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Q6 Angela Rayner Lab Ashton-under-Lyne
NHS
Context

The Government is accused of wasting public money on storing unusable personal protective equipment.

Question

Well, that was a way of deflecting from the actual serious question that the Government are not willing to answer because they know there is suspicion about the way in which they handled those contracts. On the topic of protecting the public purse, as we speak this Government are frittering away almost half a million pounds a day on storing personal protective equipment unfit for human use.

Answer from Jacob Rees-Mogg

These charges made by the socialists are completely false. They have no bearing on reality and they completely ignore what was the requirement two years ago. We needed PPE. There was a global shortage. Everyone in the world was buying PPE, and British manufacturing managed to turn round and supply it in unprecedented quantities.

Not addressed: The MP's question about addressing loopholes in procurement was ignored entirely.

How: Attacking The Opposition

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