PRESS RELEASE : UK’s key allies come together to fight public sector fraud [September 2024]

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 10 September 2024.

Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States join UK Government for counter fraud summit in London.

• Senior government officials from UK’s closest intelligence allies meet to coordinate fight against fraud
• Meeting, chaired by Cabinet Office Minister Georgia Gould, forms centrepiece of five day summit in London
• Discussions will focus on fighting fraud committed during the pandemic, with the government currently recruiting a Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner

Tuesday 10th September

Cabinet Office Minister Georgia Gould will today convene senior officials from the UK’s closest intelligence allies to coordinate the fight against Covid fraud.

The meeting of Five Eyes – an intelligence alliance between the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States – will help to identify ways governments have been successfully detecting, recouping and prosecuting fraud committed during the pandemic.

Lessons learnt during today’s meeting will contribute to the ongoing work of the Public Sector Fraud Authority as it seeks to further support departments to prevent, detect and recover fraud and error.

The meeting forms the centrepiece of the fourth summit of the International Public Sector Fraud Forum held this week in London.

The Forum was originally set up by the UK Government in 2018 to encourage cooperation between the Five Eyes to reduce public sector fraud within member countries and across borders.

This is also the first time the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will attend the summit. The OECD’s Anti-Corruption and Integrity Division has collaborated with the Public Sector Fraud Authority to lead talks on the pivotal role of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence in fraud prevention.

Today’s meeting comes as the UK Government redoubles efforts to tackle Covid fraud.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer recently announced recruitment for a fixed term Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner to scrutinise contracts awarded during the pandemic and ensure that everything possible is done to recover money lost to fraud.

Minister Gould, Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office, said:

Criminal networks threaten governments around the world and don’t respect international borders, so it’s vital we work with our allies to keep public money safe.

Through today’s meeting we will learn from our closest intelligence partners to help us redouble our efforts to track and recover public money lost to fraud during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mark Cheeseman, Chief Executive of the Public Sector Fraud Authority, said:

In the modern world, the threat of fraud against public bodies is a known issue that requires collaboration.

This week brings together leading experts from across partner countries to drive ourselves further in stopping those who attack the system dishonestly.