Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Serious Fraud Office: Tackling Economic Crime

Thursday 8 May 2025 · 2 questions

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

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Serious Fraud Office guidance aims to encourage businesses to self-report wrongdoing.
  • Deferred prosecution agreements have raised 1.7 billion in fines since 2015.
  • SFO's strategy includes exploring options to financially incentivise whistleblowers.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Johanna Baxter Lab Paisley and Renfrewshire South
Business Compliance
Context

Fraud is estimated to cost UK taxpayers between £55 billion and £80 billion per year, according to the questioner's statement.

Question

The vast majority of UK businesses play by the rules, but fraud is estimated to cost UK taxpayers—including my constituents—between £55 billion and £80 billion per year. What is the Serious Fraud Office doing to encourage businesses to self-report wrongdoing?

Answer from The Solicitor General (Full Name)

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; the vast majority of businesses do play by the rules, and fraud is so damaging precisely because it undermines everyone who plays fairly. That is why this Government are so determined to tackle it. I welcome the SFO’s recently revised guidance, which aims to drive up the number of corporates that self-report wrongdoing. That is a positive development that will foster good corporate citizenship, and it is an important contributor to this Government’s economic growth mission.

Answered
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Q2 Lloyd Hatton Lab South Dorset
Justice & Courts Business Compliance
Context

Deferred prosecution agreements have resulted in the SFO raising some £1.7 billion in fines since their introduction in 2015, but there has been a significant drop-off in recent years.

Question

Since their introduction in 2015, deferred prosecution agreements have resulted in the SFO raising some £1.7 billion in fines, yet those DPAs have dried up—the last DPAs that the Serious Fraud Office signed were some four years ago, in 2021. I welcome the SFO’s new strategy to ramp up enforcement, including new guidance to make it simpler to report crimes, but I believe we can and must go further. Can the Solicitor General outline what steps the Government are taking to support the SFO in ensuring that whistleblowers are also incentivised to come forward?

Answer from The Solicitor General (Full Name)

My hon. Friend raises an important point. The director of the SFO has expressed strong support for the financial incentivisation of whistleblowers, and the SFO’s five-year strategy commits to exploring options, working with partners in the UK and abroad. Reform would require careful assessment, and it is right that any suggestions that could enhance the SFO’s efficiency and our ability as a country to tackle serious fraud, bribery and corruption are properly considered.

Partly answered

Not addressed: No concrete steps outlined for incentivizing whistleblowers; only mentions exploration of options.

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