The UK government has been urged to do more to crack down on fraud after new data showed the number of high-value criminal cases reaching the courts has stayed flat despite a sharp rise in fraud.

UK crown courts heard 226 fraud cases last year compared with 221 in 2022, according to new figures from KPMG’s Fraud Barometer, which tracks cases worth £100,000 and above. KPMG recorded 298 such cases in 2021, a 66 per cent increase from 2020.