Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the costs of fraud in his Department in the last three financial years.

The Government is determined to uncover fraud in the public sector and is proud of its record. As part of this, the Government established the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA). In 22/23 the PSFA set a target of delivering £180m of savings to the taxpayer. In fact, the PSFA far surpassed this within the first 12 months by preventing and recovering £311 million.

As it enters its second year, the PSFA has a target of achieving £185 million of savings for the taxpayer. The Government has also announced an additional £34 million to deploy cutting edge tools and Artificial Intelligence tools to help combat fraud across the public sector, saving £100 million for the public purse. This is in addition to existing partnerships between PSFA and the tech sector.

Defra's headline response to countering fraud is set out in the Governance Statement of the Annual Report and Accounts. The Annual Report and Accounts for Defra for the past three years may be accessed here:

Defra Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Defra Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Defra Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 (publishing.service.gov.uk)