Oral Answers to Questions

Jacob Young Excerpts

Thursday 4th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Nicola Richards (West Bromwich East) (Con)]

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Crown Prosecution Service in tackling fraud cases.

[Jacob Young (Redcar) (Con)]

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the CPS in tackling fraud cases.

[Robbie Moore (Keighley) (Con)]

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Crown Prosecution Service in tackling fraud cases.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Attorney General]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. Crimes where covid is the context for exploitation and fraudulent behaviour are completely sickening. The Director of Public Prosecutions has made it clear in his interim charging protocol that offences related to covid, including fraud, will be prioritised and that the offenders will be prosecuted. The joint inspectorate report commended the CPS’s response to the pandemic, including its ability to move to remote working without any major service interruption. That was noted as a major achievement.

[Jacob Young]

Those who use this pandemic to exploit vulnerable people really are the lowest of the low. In Redcar and Cleveland, we have had a number of examples of fraudsters trying to trick elderly people in particular with fake vaccines and scam NHS emails. What more can the Government do to crack down on those types of criminals?

[The Attorney General]

My hon. Friend is right to raise this sickening trend. The Government are committed to stopping criminals benefiting from their ill-gotten gains. In 2019-20, the CPS successfully used its specialist prosecutors to seize more than £100 million through confiscation orders across all offence types.