Baroness Chakrabarti
Main Page: Baroness Chakrabarti (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Chakrabarti's debates with the Home Office
(2 years, 6 months ago)
Lords Chamber Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)
        
    
    
    
    
    
        
        
        
            Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con) 
        
    
        
    
        It is a most disturbing figure. Public sector integrity is certainly a feature of the Transparency International downgrade of the UK, but that is being dealt with, as noble Lords will be aware.
 Baroness Chakrabarti (Lab)
        
    
    
    
    
    
        
        
        
            Baroness Chakrabarti (Lab) 
        
    
        
    
        My Lords, it has been well over a year, as many of us remember, since the noble Lord, Lord Agnew, resigned in this House from that Dispatch Box. Noble Lords will remember that he did it over a government decision to write off £4.3 billion in fraudulent Covid loans. He went on to accuse the Government
“of arrogance, indolence and ignorance”—[Official Report, 24/1/22; col. 21.]
in dealing with fraud. What has improved since then?
 Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)
        
    
    
    
    
    
        
        
        
            Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con) 
        
    
        
    
        My Lords, the noble Baroness will be aware that the publication of the new fraud strategy is imminent. As I referred to in my earlier Answer, the second iteration of the anti-corruption strategy is also being worked through at this moment. There will be a lot more to say on that in the very near future.