The UK Government should move quickly to make fraud a priority for the nation's police if it is to have any chance of fighting a "surge in economic crime".

The UK Government should move quickly to make fraud a priority for the nation's police if it is to have any chance of fighting a "surge in economic crime". This was the warning given by George Staple QC, chairman of the Fraud Advisory Panel, at the launch of its annual report in July. Staple said that authoritative estimates of sums lost through fraud range up to £12bn per year. In its Annual Report, the Panel proposes:

  • establishing a national fraud loss study to conduct an authoritative annual survey. "It is impossible to motivate serious reform without more reliable official statistics," said Staple

  • convening a national conference of professional bodies and providers of business qualifications to consider improvements in anti-fraud education and training

  • creating a national anti-fraud commission to bring together senior representatives of business, the professions, the police and government.

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