Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Economic Crime: Serious Fraud Office and CPS Effectiveness

Wednesday 7 December 2022 · 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 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Last year the CPS prosecuted 7,200 defendants where fraud and forgery were the principal offence, with an 84.1% conviction rate.
  • The CPS launched a united team in April 2022 and set up a new serious economic, organised crime and international directorate to help address fraud cases.
  • The SFO successfully prosecuted four fraudsters and Glencore, resulting in a 280 million total payment, the highest ever.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Virendra Sharma Lab
Crime & Law Enforcement Justice & Courts
Context

The question addresses the effectiveness of government agencies in prosecuting cases of fraud and economic crime.

Question

What steps she is taking to improve the effectiveness of the (a) Serious Fraud Office and (b) Crown Prosecution Service in prosecuting cases of fraud and economic crime. Last year, the CPS prosecuted 7,200 defendants where fraud and forgery were the principal offence, with an 84.1% conviction rate.

Answer from Michael Tomlinson

Last year the Crown Prosecution Service prosecuted 7,200 defendants where fraud and forgery were the principal offence, and the conviction rate was 84.1%. This financial year, the Serious Fraud Office has successfully prosecuted four fraudsters, as well as Glencore, which resulted in the highest ever order in a corporate criminal conviction in the UK.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Steps to improve prosecution effectiveness were not specifically addressed

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Q2 Liz Twist Lab Blaydon and Consett
Crime & Law Enforcement Justice & Courts
Context

There were almost 940,000 fraud offences in the latest Home Office data, but only around 4,800 of those offences resulted in charges or summonses. The exact charge rate was just 0.51%, which is even lower than the rate of the previous year.

Question

Why does the Attorney General think the charge rate for fraud is so abysmally low? What does she plan to do about it?

Answer from Michael Tomlinson

The figures show that, last year, the CPS prosecuted 7,200 defendants where fraud and forgery were the principal offence, and the conviction rate was 84.1%. In April 2022, the CPS launched a united team, and a new serious economic, organised crime and international directorate has been set up to help in that regard.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Reasons for low charge rates were not explained

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Q3 Virendra Sharma Lab
Crime & Law Enforcement
Context

The question addresses the need to understand the total scale, overseas origin, and involvement of organised crime in fraud cases.

Question

Does the Attorney General agree that the Government need urgent answers to three basic questions: (a) What is the total scale of fraud in the UK? (b) How much of it is perpetrated from overseas? (c) And how much of it is perpetrated by organised crime? Can we have an answer to any of those questions today?

Answer from Michael Tomlinson

Both the CPS and the SFO play a significant role in tackling fraud and economic crime, and we should not gloss over the successes that there have been. Once again, I pay tribute to the SFO for its successful prosecution of Glencore, which resulted in a £280 million total payment, the highest ever that has been ordered in a corporate criminal conviction in the United Kingdom.

Not addressed: Answers to understanding fraud were not provided

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