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These initiatives were driven by Lord Goodman of Wycombe, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
Lord Goodman of Wycombe has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Lord Goodman of Wycombe has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The Government is committed to transparency in its efforts to tackle fraud and error against the public sector.
Accredited national statistics are maintained by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), which provides independent regulation of all official statistics produced in the UK. The OSR publishes a comprehensive list of all official statistics that they have independently reviewed and accredited, including levels of total fraud and computer misuse in England and Wales.
The Public Sector Fraud Authority publishes data in relation to public sector fraud and error through its Cross-Government Fraud Landscape Report. The most recent Report, covering the period of 2021-22, set out levels of detected, prevented and recovered fraud and error, as reported by Departments and public bodies. The next Fraud Landscape Report will be published in Autumn 2025, and will cover two reporting years of 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Furthermore, the National Audit Office produced an ‘Overview of the impact of fraud and error on public funds’ in November 2024 which sets out the total impact of fraud and error on public funds for 2023-24. This overview draws on publicly available sources, including the annual report and accounts of government bodies which are publicly available on GOV.UK
As at 31 March £10.86bn (23.3% by value) has been settled under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) Government-backed guarantee.
The proportion (by value) of total guarantee claims made by lenders relating explicitly to suspected fraud loss is:
- BBLS: 5.53%
- Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme: 2.61%
- Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme: 0% (none)
The British Business Bank reviews its board in accordance with the Cabinet Office guidance on Board Effectiveness Reviews, which includes an annual review that is externally facilitated every three years. The findings are included in BBB's Annual Report and Accounts, with a copy placed in the Library of the House. The most recent review was carried out in March 2025 and will be reported in BBB's 2025 Annual Report and Accounts, due for publication later in 2025.
Under the Cabinet Office review framework, a self-assessment was completed by the Bank and reviewed by the Department for Business and Trade. This did not require a reviewer to be appointed nor specific terms of reference (beyond the self-assessment guidance). The broader Public Bodies Review Programme concluded on 31 March 2025.
The total fraud loss rate (by value) as a percentage of total lending for each of the COVID-19 loan guarantee schemes:
Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS): 3.36%
Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS): 0.09%
Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS): 0% (none)
Total flagged as suspected fraud by lenders (by value) as a percentage of total lending for each of the COVID-19 loan guarantee schemes:
BBLS: 4.05%
CBILS: 0.22%
CLBILS: 0% (none)
I can confirm that the £30m loan to Celsa Steel UK was fully repaid in 2023 with interest and in line with the Government’s terms and conditions. A written ministerial statement was made to Parliament on 23 June 2023 on the matter: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-06-26/hcws879.
External auditors were appointed to review the level of fraud and error in the Film and TV Production Restart Scheme, which ran between October 2020 and April 2022 under the previous Government. This was an indemnity scheme with robust checks at application and claims stages by the scheme administrator and loss adjusters.
The evaluation found an error rate of less than 1%, and did not identify any fraud. The supplier concluded that the scheme had strong governance controls in place reducing the risk of fraud, and the rate of error was within expectations, particularly in the context of a pandemic where there is a need to prioritise speed and financial support to organisations. Errors were reviewed by the administrator and corrected where appropriate within the terms of the scheme, with £2240 recovered accounting for the majority of the error rate.
While the department has recently updated data on detected fraud and error, there is no overall quantified estimate of total (detected and undetected) fraud and error for the CRF.
For the core grant programmes delivered by Arts Council England, British Film Institute, and National Lottery Heritage Fund, and DCMS’s loans programme: fraud risk assessment, due diligence, upfront eligibility verification and post award sampling of grants took place across the Fund. This was either conducted or reviewed by independent auditors, however, the methodologies were not all based on statistical sampling so can not be brought together.
The total fraud and error detected across the CRF programmes is £12.9 million, consisting mainly of dual funding with the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and breaches of terms and conditions. Of this, £10.3 million has been recovered.
The Green Recovery Challenge Fund (GRCF) was an £80 million fund over two rounds to support nature recovery and conservation across England between 2020 and 2023. It was developed by the last government in response to COVID-19 and administered on behalf of Defra by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). Comprehensive independent evaluation reports for both rounds are available on the NLHF website.
NLHF does not monitor the survival of trees planted under the GRCF post project completion.
Round 1 of the GRCF was heavily over-subscribed. There was a rigorous selection process, to ensure the projects selected for grant funding represented value for money. This included having robust project plans including planting and maintenance, and possessing the necessary skills, capabilities and track record to deliver projects effectively. Projects were required to follow all relevant regulatory requirements as a condition of funding.
From data provided by grantees, we have estimated a cost per tree planted in Round 1 of approximately £5.
The Green Recovery Challenge Fund (GRCF) was an £80 million fund over two rounds to support nature recovery and conservation across England between 2020 and 2023. It was developed by the last government in response to COVID-19 and administered on behalf of Defra by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). Comprehensive independent evaluation reports for both rounds are available on the NLHF website.
The GRCF was an open grant programme that sought to meet a range of objectives. While green jobs and skills was a key objective of the Fund, no target was set for the number of apprenticeships supported.
Monitoring data from grantees show that 252 apprenticeship roles were created across Round 1, accounting for 201 Full-Time Equivalents.
The Green Recovery Challenge Fund (GRCF) was an £80 million fund over two rounds to support nature recovery and conservation across England between 2020 and 2023. It was developed by the last government in response to COVID-19 and administered on behalf of Defra by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). Comprehensive independent evaluation reports for both rounds are available on the NLHF website.
GRCF projects were not required to undergo independent auditing or verification of outcomes. NLHF actively monitored all projects in delivery through quarterly reporting procedures, including meetings, site visits and photographic evidence. Grantees were required to undertake a project evaluation, commissioning external independent evaluation providers in most cases.
NLHF commissioned a separate independent programme level evaluation report for each round of GRCF. No instances of discrepancies or inflated reporting by grant recipients were identified.
This government takes the threat of extremism very seriously. As a society we must not permit those that radicalise others into violence and terrorism to act with impunity. The Government is committed to tackling those who spread views that promote violence and hatred against individuals and communities in our society, and that radicalise others into terrorism, and we keep all policies and programmes designed to achieve those goals under regular review.
This government takes the threat of extremism very seriously. As a society we must not permit those that radicalise others into violence and terrorism to act with impunity. The Government is committed to tackling those who spread views that promote violence and hatred against individuals and communities in our society, and that radicalise others into terrorism, and we keep all policies and programmes designed to achieve those goals under regular review.
This government takes the threat of extremism very seriously and we will continue to work with partners to tackle extremism in all its forms. The rapid review ordered by the Home Secretary will consider the current understanding of extremism, including Islamist and far-right extremism. Following the conclusion of the rapid review, we will be setting out our strategic approach, which will ensure that we have the strongest possible response.
This government takes the threat of extremism very seriously and we will continue to work with partners to tackle extremism in all its forms. The rapid review ordered by the Home Secretary will consider the current understanding of extremism, including Islamist and far-right extremism. Following the conclusion of the rapid review, we will be setting out our strategic approach, which will ensure that we have the strongest possible response.
This government takes the threat of extremism very seriously and we will continue to work with partners to tackle extremism in all its forms. The rapid review ordered by the Home Secretary will consider the current understanding of extremism, including Islamist and far-right extremism. Following the conclusion of the rapid review, we will be setting out our strategic approach, which will ensure that we have the strongest possible response.