Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Garnier and Yvonne Fovargue

Tuesday 10th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield) (Lab)]

4. How many successful prosecutions for fraud were brought by the Serious Fraud Office in 2011.

[The Solicitor-General (Mr Edward Garnier)]

Owing to their complexity, SFO cases rarely conclude in the same year in which the prosecution, still less the investigation, begins. In 2011, the SFO concluded 14 fraud cases and 28 defendants were convicted; a further seven bribery cases were brought to a successful conclusion.

[Yvonne Fovargue]

With the SFO budget being cut by 25% over the course of this Parliament, what advantages does the Solicitor-General think the introduction of deferred prosecution agreements will bring, apart from plugging the financial hole in fraud investigations through plea bargains with corporate perpetrators?

[The Solicitor-General]

Deferred prosecution agreements bring with them self-evident advantages: they will ensure that companies are brought to justice, through confession, through whistleblowing or through investigation; they will bring speed, as a resolution in these matters will be brought forward much more quickly—the average SFO case takes about three and a half years and costs about £1.5 million; they will bring compensation to victims; they will avoid collateral damage to innocent parties; and they will provide an additional weapon in the prosecutor’s armoury. I hope that the hon. Lady would welcome that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Garnier and Yvonne Fovargue

Tuesday 22nd May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield) (Lab)]

2. If he will take steps to increase the public profile of the work of the Crown Prosecution Service on allegations of rape made by young women.

[The Solicitor-General (Mr Edward Garnier)]

The CPS and the specialist rape and serious sexual offences teams in every CPS area take all allegations of rape against every age group very seriously, and as a matter of general principle are keen that their work should be given the highest possible public profile. That said, they and the police have to make a judgment in each case about whether and to what extent to give publicity to it pre-trial, because quite apart from the laws of contempt and those prohibiting the identification of victims, the victim is entitled to be spared as much as possible any additional trauma beyond that caused by the rape itself.

[Yvonne Fovargue]

The conviction last month of Kabeer Hassan and another man for rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child calls into question the original CPS decision not to charge the men because the young woman was deemed not to be a credible witness. Does the Solicitor-General share my concern that the CPS’s original decision sends out a very dangerous message to other young victims of rape that they will not be believed?

[The Solicitor-General]

If there is any good news to be had out of that terrible case, it is that the chief Crown prosecutor for the north-west, Mr. Nazir Afzal, revisited that decision, overturned it and ensured that the defendants were prosecuted, and prosecuted to conviction. I hope that the hon. Lady will be pleased by the result of that case.