§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Attorney-General what plans he has to(a) privatise or (b) make into a "next steps" agency, the Serious Fraud Office.
§ The Attorney-GeneralI announced on 6 December 1993,Official Report, column 60, that consideration was to be given to whether the Serious Fraud Office, and two other of my Departments, should become agencies under the "next steps" programme. My decision will be reached in the light of the relevant study of whether agency status is appropriate and this study will, as is usual, cover the question of the extent to which the work in question should be performed in the public sector. A decision that the Serious Fraud Office should become an agency would not involve any change in my superintendence of the office or my accountability for it.