Public Sector

The NAO's Joshua Reddaway shares what to look out for in Rachel Reeves's first Budget.

With the Autumn Budget fast approaching, civil servants have been pulling together spending proposals and are now discussing them with Treasury officials and ministers.

If you are interested in how government tackles losses to the taxpayer from fraud and error, then what should you look out for?

Gedling Borough Council has already recovered £330,000 from a former employee who stole almost £1 million from the authority over 20 years.

Ex Senior Assistant Accountant Alan Doig, 57, authorised regular payments to himself to fund his gambling addiction.

He admitted the fraud and was sentenced to five years in prison last Wednesday (October 2).

A former Gedling Borough Council accountant who stole almost £1 million from the authority over 20 years appeared “a decent guy” and “a typical accountant”, shocked former colleagues have said.

Alan Doig, 57, diverted the public money to his account to fund his gambling addiction.

The Senior Assistant Accountant, of Bedale Road, Daybrook, is starting a five year prison sentence after he admitted the fraud.

An ex-finance officer at a local council has been jailed after he stole almost £1m to fund his gambling addiction.

Alan Doig, 57, abused his position at Gedling Borough Council to transfer £934,343.30 into his own bank accounts between 2003 and 2022.

Nottingham Crown Court heard Doig was employed as a Senior Assistant Accountant and was responsible for the council’s creditors system, which included the ability to generate invoices and make payments to suppliers.

A man who applied for COVID Bounce Back Loans using fake business names and fake account details has been sentenced to 19 months in prison at Bristol Crown Court.

Attila Kovacs, 45, of Gloucester Road, was investigated by Bristol Trading Standards after they discovered evidence during a different investigation of false loan applications totalling £96,500.

The government will bring forward a new Fraud, Error and Debt Bill in this parliamentary session to crack down on fraud in the social security system.

New laws to be introduced to crack down on fraud - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Welfare fraudsters will be dealt with faster under new legislation expected to save the taxpayer £1.6 billion over the next five years, the Prime Minister is set to announce.

PM to promise welfare fraud crackdown in bid to free up cash for public services | Central Fife Times

A fraudster who owes the government tens of millions of pounds defrauded the government to pay them back, a court heard. Gerald Smith, who has already served two prison sentences for fraud, was found guilty of cheating taxpayers during the pandemic to pay legal fees, related to a £72million confiscation order, while claiming the money was for his business Arcana Solutions Ltd.

Fraudster who owes £72million jailed after he's caught in £50k Covid loan scam (yahoo.com)

With the rise of online activities, identity fraud now accounts for 66% of reported cases. Only by leveraging advanced analytics and AI, government agencies can enhance their defences.

Fraud poses a significant challenge across various sectors of government, draining resources and undermining public trust. It also means there is less much needed money to spend on vital resources like schools and hospitals.

https://www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article/preventing-fraud-in-government-the-critical-role-of-ai-and-analytics

Covid related fraud cost every UK adult the equivalent of up to £1,000, figures show.

The analysis, carried out by Oxford University’s Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, reveals the bill for pandemic counter measures, such as furlough and Track and Trace amounted to £370 billion. This equates to an average cost of £10,000 to each UK adult. Approximately ten percent of this spend was lost to fraud, mainly through government loan schemes, which allowed businesses to borrow tens of thousands of pounds to keep them afloat amid rolling lockdowns.

https://collateralglobal.org/article/covid-fraud-cost-each-adult-1000/