Ducking the answer? Fraud strategies and police resources

Abstract

The 2006 UK Fraud Review took a strategic approach to fraud, addressing a spectrum of issues from prevention in the private sector to the introduction of plea bargaining in criminal cases. The work of the review was followed by the establishment of a National Strategic Fraud Authority (now the National Fraud Authority) to deliver a comprehensive strategy. Underlying both the background to the review and the implementation of the strategy has been the availability of police staff resources. The article discusses the decline in resources prior to 2006 but notes that not only is the decline continuing, but that policing priorities do not appear to suggest that this is likely to be reversed – with implications for the effectiveness of the strategy.