ABSTRACT
Any outsider making a study of UK government initiatives to deal with fraud and corruption both against the public sector specifically and against the state generally, that is UK plc, might be forgiven for thinking that the UK government has taken considerable strides since the start of the new Millennium to tackle the major causes of fraud and corruption. The 2006 Fraud Review provided the template for a national strategy for tackling fraud and to consider every aspect from the detection, investigation, prosecution and defence of criminal fraud. In 2009, the National Fraud Authority set up the Smarter Government Public Sector Fraud Taskforce. The task force produced its report in 2010, entitled 'A fresh approach to combating fraud in the public sector'. The primary aim in setting up the Single Fraud Investigation Service has been to enable DWP and to a lesser extent HMRC have an overarching control over the levers to prevent and detect benefit and tax credit fraud.
