The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has estimated that between £2.5bn and £28.5bn could have been lost to fraud and error in 2022-23, with the government not knowing exactly where or how.

This is in addition to the £10bn lost to tax fraud and £6.4bn to benefit fraud in 2022-23, with MPs warning that, for the most part, the government’s current system of fraud measurement still does not give a clear picture where the problems are, or which public bodies are most affected.

Dame Meg Hillier MP, chair of PAC, said: ‘The government is flying blind on the levels of fraud and corruption perpetrated against it, despite widespread awareness of the toxic threat posed by these despicable crimes. The Cabinet Office has blamed worsening public perceptions of the UK’s fraud and corruption on ‘noisy reporting’ from the media.

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