Money Laundering

Debate between Lord Anderson of Swansea and Lord Agnew of Oulton

Thursday 13th January 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Agnew of Oulton (Con)]

My Lords, we have the National Crime Agency as the main crimefighting force in anti-money laundering. It is an extremely effective organisation, and it is well funded. Of course, one could always say that more money is needed, but I can assure my noble friend that we believe that we have adequate resources.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

The Minister has mentioned some fines in respect of a limited number of banks, but much money laundering is in respect of property transactions, particularly in London. Since the passing of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, how many prosecutions have there been of professional people who facilitate money laundering: the estate agents, the solicitors and others?

[Lord Agnew of Oulton (Con)]

My Lords, more than 97,000 organisations are monitored for money laundering in this country and some 54 anti-money laundering inquiries are open with the FCA at the moment.

Children in Care

Debate between Lord Anderson of Swansea and Lord Agnew of Oulton

Monday 3rd February 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, I assure the House that this is a priority area for the Government. We committed in our manifesto to a review of the care system, which will cover key issues facing vulnerable children and young people. The Government have invested £5 million from our innovation programme to develop new approaches to care placements. This includes supporting local authorities to increase their capacity in residential care and to improve their commissioning practices.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, what priority is given in the guidance to placing children near their homes?

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, it is always a priority to ensure that children are placed as near to their home as possible. However, there are certain circumstances where this is not wise, such as getting them away from the impact of gangs or where there are deep disputes in their family—but the emphasis is very much on keeping them locally. We have two initiatives, Staying Put and Staying Close, which are both aimed at keeping children locally. Staying Close encourages foster parents to keep the children in care beyond the statutory age, and that is starting to work.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: Student Work Placements

Debate between Lord Anderson of Swansea and Lord Agnew of Oulton

Monday 16th July 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, the last question was not just about advice but possible indemnity—insurance if there is any accident. What is the position in respect of that?

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, most SMEs have what is called a combined business insurance policy, which includes such things as indemnity limits for public liability. I am therefore comfortable that that would be covered, but that of course would be up to the employer to check.

Schools: Indoctrination

Debate between Lord Anderson of Swansea and Lord Agnew of Oulton

Tuesday 6th February 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, unfortunately I do not have all that information to hand, but I will of course write to my noble friend.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, when schools close, is there any attempt by the Government to follow up where the students go to see whether they are simply going to other schools that reopen and teach in the same way?

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, we introduced some statutory changes to requirements on schools quite recently. It is now a requirement that a school notify the local authority of what are called deletions from the register, whether the parent has formally notified the school of the destination of the child or not. Local authorities are made aware of closing schools in those situations.