§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what are the numbers and qualifications of Royal Military Police officers currently serving as specialist accountants;
(2) in how many cases each year since 1979 investigations by the Royal Military Police have required the services of a specialist accountant who is a serving officer with the Royal Military Police;
(3) how many Royal Military Police officers who are trained as specialist accountants are currently in post; and how many have been in post in each year since 1979.
§ Mr. NeubertCases of suspected fraud are investigated by Royal Military Police (RMP) teams. The teams are composed of members of the special investigation branch of the Royal Military Police and, for technical assistance in their investigations, of advisers seconded from the Royal Army Pay Corps. Two RAPC warrant officers are currently employed full time as specialist financial advisers to provide technical assistance. The first full-time specialist financial adviser was seconded to the RMP in 1983. A second specialist was seconded in 1986.
Before 1983 all RAPC warrant officers could be called upon to assist with a SIB RMP investigation. In order to make best use of the experience and technical expertise gained in this type of investigation it was decided to second a warrant officer to the RMP as a full-time member of their SIB teams.
Since 1983, the financial advisers have handled 121 cases of false accounting, with five cases under investigation.
§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence in how many cases each year since 1979 investigations by the Royal Military Police have required the assistance of specialist accountants who are(a) civilians, (b) civil servants, (c) officers serving with the ministry of defence police, (d) officers of the metropolitan police and (e) officers of other forces.
§ Mr. NeubertNone. We do, however, make use of the expertise of the Royal Army Pay Corps.