Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Serious Fraud Office: Covid-19

Thursday 24 September 2020 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 3 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Serious Fraud Office responded quickly to the disruptions caused by covid-19 and continued to progress casework.
  • Chief investigator led a taskforce to assess operational activity initially halted by the pandemic and introduced virtual systems for casework.
  • DPAs are considered powerful tools for holding companies accountable, and the SFO remains committed to using them since 2014.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Bob Blackman Con Harrow East
Justice & Courts
Context

The MP is concerned about the impact of the pandemic on the Serious Fraud Office's operational effectiveness and its ability to maintain casework progress.

Question

What assessment has she made of the effectiveness of the Serious Fraud Office's response to the covid-19 outbreak?

Answer from Michael Ellis

The Serious Fraud Office responded quickly to the disruption caused by covid, and it has continued to progress casework during this period. Notably, it achieved a conclusion of the prosecutions in the Unaoil case, reached a deferred prosecution agreement with G4S, laid charges in the GPT case and obtained asset confiscation orders in other cases. The SFO's ability to maintain operational effectiveness during covid was recognised in the report on its response to the pandemic that was published by the Crown Prosecution Service inspectorate.

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Q2 Ian Levy
Policing & Resources Crime & Law Enforcement
Context

The MP is interested in understanding the specific measures taken by the Serious Fraud Office to reduce investigation delays due to the pandemic.

Question

Will my right hon. and learned Friend please explain what steps the Serious Fraud Office has taken to minimise any delays to its investigations caused by covid-19?

Answer from Michael Ellis

The chief investigator of the SFO led a taskforce in relation to covid, to assess all operational activity that was initially halted by the pandemic as part of the office's wider recovery planning. In addition, general counsel for the Serious Fraud Office introduced virtual systems for reviewing cases and virtual processes. We have been monitoring the SFO closely and it has been performing well in very difficult circumstances.

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Q3 Bob Blackman Con Harrow East
Justice & Courts Business Compliance
Context

The MP is seeking further information on the Serious Fraud Office's recent actions regarding deferred prosecution agreements, particularly those with G4S and Airbus.

Question

Thank you, ground control. I thank my right hon. and learned Friend for his answers thus far. Will he go a bit further on the recent deferred prosecution agreements, including those with G4S and with Airbus? What assessment has he made of the benefits of DPAs as a tool for prosecuting those accused of such offences?

Answer from Michael Ellis

I thank my hon. Friend. DPAs are very important. They are extremely powerful tools that hold companies to account, and the SFO remains committed to using them. Since 2014, the SFO has agreed eight DPAs, five of which were for overseas corruption offences. The total value to the Treasury of all eight DPAs was around £1.58 billion, so I do hope that Her Majesty's Treasury is listening; they bring large sums of money into the Exchequer.

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