Departmental focus on 'promptness' opens data up to fraud and error, say civil servants

SAS survey of 1,750 civil servants offers insight into how Government could combat the £25 billion fraud and error bill

09 November 2010 -  SAS, the leader in business analytics software and services, today announces the results of a survey of 1,750 UK civil servants on their attitudes towards combating claimant stage fraud in the public sector. Respondents said training and attitude improvements, as well as new systems and greater accountability, are essential to reducing the UK’s £25 billion fraud and error bill(1). 

The majority of civil servants (61 per cent) said accuracy is the most important factor when allocating public funds. However 25 per cent stated 'promptness' is their department's focus. Just 16 per cent of respondents said that 'paying the right money to the right people at the right time' is their focus. These results indicate a conflict between maintaining accuracy and departmental pressure for speed, meaning that fraud and error is more prevalent than it should be throughout the allocation process.

The survey shows that fraud and error is a major concern for civil servants. Almost half (48 per cent) believe that external fraud is the biggest threat to the appropriate distribution of funds. However, it is more important to note that more than a third (39 per cent) believe that internal fraud is the biggest risk. Thirty per cent said that errors in payments to the wrong person or organisation is also a major risk, and over a quarter (26 per cent) cited overpayment as their greatest concern. The results highlight that fraud is often detected, particularly in the initial stages of the payment process, but the necessary steps towards detecting and preventing it are not taken early enough.

The study also showed a heavy reliance on time-consuming human processes. Almost three quarters (73 per cent) of those surveyed use human assessment of paper or online forms as the major means of assessing claims with just over a third (34%) using software to assess claims.

Civil servants are however keen to improve awareness and are open to the introduction of more robust counter fraud methods. 42 per cent say that individual training would be most effective in minimising risks, with leadership from managers also said to be important by 16 per cent of respondents. Nearly a quarter (22 per cent) said that risk and fraud monitoring tools, and 13 per cent said process automation, would help to reduce payment errors.

Graham Kemp, head of public sector at SAS, comments on the findings, "Firstly, we need to acknowledge that there is a level of fraud that has already been detected in the stages prior to claiming. However, this survey, looking specifically at the claimant stage, reveals that some of the tax and credit system has been set up with a 'pay now, check later' mentality. This only adds to the fraud and error burden since money is rarely recouped successfully after the occurrence. While civil servants recognise that reducing the incidence of fraud and error is important, departments can be side-lined to focus on speed, rather than accuracy, and a lack of training and awareness means that fraud and error is still a major issue. The results show that data analytics is underused, and that better data management systems could be instrumental in ensuring that both accuracy and the meeting of targets efficiently co-exist – without negatively impacting deserving claimants."

1,750 civil servants were questioned as part of research project commissioned by SAS.

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