‘Single agency is needed to tackle wave of fraud’

Report follows Minister’s resignation

ROCKETING CASES of fraud in the UK should be tackled by establishing a single law enforcement agency to tackle economic crime, an influential group of MPs have recommended.

A new report by the Treasury Select Committee said there are currently a “bewildering” number of agencies responsible for tackling fraud and economic crime but such offences do not appear to be a “priority” for those charged with tackling them.

The report also suggested making a single Government department responsible for the oversight of combatting fraud.

MPs also called for an overhaul of Companies House and to increase the cost to register a business from £12 or £13 currently to £100 in an attempt to deter criminals from setting up hundreds of shell firms.

The report looking at the Government’s proposed Economic

Crime Bill said politicians on the committee were unhappy at the lack of progress and shared the views of former Minister Lord Agnew, who resigned from the Government last month.

The former joint Treasury and Cabinet Office Minister for efficiency and transformation quit dramatically in the House of

Lords a week ago, calling delays “foolish”.

Committee chairman Mel Stride said the Government must explain itself.

He said: “One of the major reasons he (Lord Agnew) resigned is because the Economic Crime Bill is not going forward to the next Queen’s Speech.

“What the committee is saying on that is that the Government needs to identify or provide us with the details of what legislation do they think is required across this whole area of economic crime and what powers are already on the statute book.”

Mr Stride added that a new agency may be better focused on tackling such crimes than is currently the case.

“There’s a resourcing question. The police spend about one per cent of their resource on a crime level that is about 30 per cent of all crime that is fraud related, so you’ve got an imbalance.

“There are things that need to be done in certain areas that are

being delayed and taking too long to bring in.”