PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Fraud (11 December 2014)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost of (a) fraud and (b) financial error in (i) her Department, (ii) its executive agencies and (iii) its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years.

Asked by:
Lucy Powell (Labour)

The latest audited fraud and error figures available are for 2012/13. Reported fraud and error across central government was £70 million. This figure does not include all arm’s length bodies. The Department for Education reported £0.62 million in 2012-13 and £0.52 million in 2013-14 of fraud and error.

In 2011 this Government established the Fraud, Error and Debt Taskforce to develop and coordinate action across government. It has achieved significant improvements, including the appointment at Departmental board level of an accountable person with responsibility for identifying and reducing fraud and error losses in their department.

Answered by:
Nick Gibb (Conservative)
18 December 2014