His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services Report
House of Commons · Written Statements · 15 Jul 2026 · 1 speech · Official Report
Today, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services has published its report on how effectively His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs prevents and investigates insider risk, following an inspection in January and February 2024. I take the findings of this report extremely seriously and have been clear to HMRC that the findings needed to be acted on. This independent inspection was commissioned by HMRC in recognition of the importance of security and resilience. The Department has been clear that it has a zero-tolerance approach to insider threat and, where criminal wrongdoing is identified, it takes swift action including dismissal and will pursue criminal prosecutions. It is important to set out the context for this report: the fieldwork took place in January and February 2024, and the findings reflect the position more than two and a half years ago. All of the case studies referenced by inspectors had already been identified and dealt with by HMRC’s internal investigations before being shared with HMICFRS. Senior officials have assured me that the Department has taken appropriate and proportionate action in all case studies, based on its policies. All of these decisions were taken in 2023. HMRC is effective at detecting and taking action against internal fraud. Since the period covered by the report, the Department has taken significant steps to strengthen its controls and capability. HMRC has substantially completed 20 of the 22 recommendations,...