Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his interview with the i newspaper, published on 3 June 2024, what recent progress he has made on establishing a summit of allies and international financial centres to tackle dirty money.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This government will drive a powerful agenda to tackle corruption and kleptocracy both at home and internationally. Working in partnership with international financial centres to tackle illicit finance is a priority. The FCDO is working across HMG to explore a range of options to deliver on this agenda and is actively considering different ways to increase the leadership of the UK in this area.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment with the Electoral Commission of the adequacy of regulations on the funding of political parties.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Effective regulation and enforcement of political finance are crucial for maintaining public trust in our electoral systems. The Government has frequent discussions with the Electoral Commission on this. As set out in our manifesto, we are committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections. As part of this, the Government intends to strengthen the rules around donations to political parties. My department will work closely with the Electoral Commission on developing proposals to give effect to this commitment.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times have exchange of notes arrangements been used in investigations relating to economic crime to share beneficial ownership information between the UK, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories in the last 12 months.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
In 2016 the UK, the three Crown Dependencies and six participating British Overseas Territories committed to share company beneficial ownership information on a bilateral basis between their participating law enforcement agencies.
A statutory review was undertaken in 2019 to review the effectiveness of the first operational 18 months of the Exchange of Notes arrangements, covering the period from 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2018. The review found that in this period, 296 requests were made. Nearly all of these were originated by UK law enforcement agencies and 118 asked for multiple pieces of information in a single request. This equates on average to nearly four requests per week. The full findings of the 2019 statutory review are available here: Statutory review of the implementation of the exchange of notes on beneficial ownership between the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The performance of the Exchange of Notes Arrangements remains subject to annual internal review, with the last 12 months from 2023-24 due for internal review in 2025. UK Law Enforcement Agencies have reported that the arrangements continue to add value by supporting complex investigations into the financial affairs of individuals believed to be involved in serious and organised crime.