Oral Answers to Questions

Joe Powell Excerpts

Thursday 14th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)]

4. What steps her Department is taking to support the Serious Fraud Office in tackling economic crime.

[Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow West) (Lab)]

6. What steps her Department is taking to support the Serious Fraud Office in tackling economic crime.

[The Solicitor General]

This Government are committed to cracking down on fraud. That is why we have confirmed an additional £9.3 million in funding to improve the performance of the Serious Fraud Office further, enhancing its case management and ensuring better systems for asset recovery.

[Joe Powell]

I welcome the additional money for the Serious Fraud Office. My hon. and learned Friend will know that Transparency International has assessed the UK as having reduced enforcement of foreign bribery measures for the first time, and the last bribery investigation to be publicly confirmed was in 2020. What steps are being taken to ensure that the SFO actively fulfils its role as the primary enforcement body for foreign bribery?

[The Solicitor General]

I acknowledge my hon. Friend’s proud track record in highlighting economic crime and his work in exposing dirty money. I met the director of the Serious Fraud Office yesterday in this House. We are working closely together to crack down on corruption, fraud, and bribery, and I assure my hon. Friend that the SFO is working incredibly hard in that area.