Protecting the public purse

Protecting the public purse

Our ‘Protecting the public purse’ reports describe what’s happened in the field of fraud detection and prevention and identify fraud risks. We also describe the action taken by some councils to tackle fraud and provide links to tools to help councils improve their counter-fraud defences. For earlier ‘Protecting the public purse’ reports, visit our archive.


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Cover of Protecting the public purse 2012

Protecting the public purse 2012

This report finds that councils are targeting their investigative resources more efficiently and effectively, detecting more than 124,000 cases of fraud in 2011/12 totalling £179 million. But it urges them not to drop their guard…

Cover of Protecting the public purse 2011

Protecting the public purse 2011

England’s councils have succeeded in detecting £185 million worth of fraud, an improvement of 37 per cent on last year’s figure of £135 million. This is equivalent to a year’s funding for around 700 libraries or the wages of up to 11,000 care workers.

Cover of Protecting the public purse 2010

Protecting the public purse 2010

We describe developments in the field of fraud prevention since 2009, report the findings from our fraud survey, and identify more fraud risks.