Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

A National Audit Office report on the proceeds of crime shows that, as a result of poor co-ordination and a lack of leadership, out of every £100 generated in the criminal economy, as much as £99.64 is retained by the perpetrator. What is the Attorney-General doing to address those findings so that victims in north African and middle eastern emerging democracies can get their—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are fully seized of the purport of the hon. Gentleman’s inquiry at just about the same time as he has become seized himself.

[The Attorney-General]

The hon. Gentleman shows some ingenuity in linking his question to that asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Fylde (Mark Menzies). I assure the hon. Gentleman that asset recovery is given a high priority and that a taskforce within Government is looking at how we can improve it overall. There are a number of interesting challenges, which go back long before this Government came into office. For example, there is a mismatch between the amounts ordered to be seized and the actual realisable amounts and, in some cases, the orders made bear very little relation to the assets available. We are looking at all those things and seeking to prioritise how we can identify those assets that can best be recovered. I would be happy to write to the hon. Gentleman about that so that he can be brought up to date on our thinking.

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[The Attorney-General]

It is probably foolish to engage in speculation about precise figures, but I will simply say that it is recognised that there are likely to be substantial sums in this country.

[Mr Speaker]

I think we will take that as a no.

[Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)]

4. What recent discussions he has had with the Crown Prosecution Service on the use of diminished responsibility defences in domestic homicide cases.

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[The Solicitor-General]

Yes, all parts of the criminal justice system are embracing digitalisation, with Essex and Chelmsford playing a key role. Essex police lead on the development of the Athena digital police system—the largest ever collaboration on a police IT project, taking a case from report to court—and Chelmsford is piloting court wi-fi and clickshare video.

[Mr Speaker]

I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman is pleased to represent the new white heat of the technological revolution.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

8. In what ways the Serious Fraud Office co-operates with prosecutors overseas; and if he will make a statement.

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[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

We will hear very shortly from the man in the conker-coloured suit. I look forward to that, as does the House. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will bear with me for a moment.