The Cabinet Office has signed a contract with Deloitte to provide professional services support for a new unit which will work with departments and public bodies to tackle fraud.
The Enforcement Unit, a pilot team within the Public Sector Fraud Authority, was launched last month with the aim of helping departments and public bodies to take action on cases of fraud where they have previously struggled.
In 2022, then-minister for the Cabinet Office Jeremy Quin said the unit would “have the ability to conduct investigations and enforcement recovery activity on a targeted basis across departments and public bodies to pursue those who seek to defraud vital public services”.
A newly-published contract says Deloitte will provide professional services for the unit, with the agreement aiming to “develop and deliver counter fraud enforcement capability to central government departments and public bodies quickly”.
The firm will “deliver a range of required counter fraud enforcement services to departments”, starting with a small number of Pathfinder departments “to address gaps in their fraud enforcement and recovery responses)”, the contract states. It will “trace assets, investigate and evidence frauds, and take legal action to recover funds”.
The Cabinet Office will pay Deloitte £2.3m for one year of services, with the contract running from 13 March, 2024 to 31 March, 2025.
The Public Sector Fraud Authority was launched in August 2022 to transform how departments and public bodies deal with fraud and is a joint Cabinet Office-HM Treasury venture. The Enforcement Unit is based solely in the Cabinet Office.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: "The Public Sector Fraud Authority recently launched a pilot Enforcement Unit to supplement existing capability across the public sector and increase fraud recovery. This contract will bring valuable private sector expertise into government, supporting the launch of the enforcement unit in 2023/24.
"The Public Sector Fraud Authority is committed to developing counter fraud expertise across the public sector. The Government Counter Fraud Profession has members across 70 departments and public bodies, with 380 apprentices currently undergoing the Level 4 Counter Fraud Investigators Apprenticeship and over 200 new civil servants trained in government in fraud risk assessment."