Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the estimated financial loss due to fraud and error across UK Research and Innovation’s grant portfolio in each year since 2018; and what percentage of that was successfully recovered.

UKRI records confirmed cases of fraud and error; however, it has not historically produced estimates of fraud and error losses. The National Audit Office published good practice guidance in February 2025 on estimating and reporting fraud and error, and UKRI is drawing on this guidance to produce an estimate for 2024/25 that will be published in UKRI’s Annual Report and Accounts.

I refer the noble Lord to my answer to question HL7598 for data on UKRI fraud recovery.