§ Mr. BrowneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the quantity and content of files relating to the Astra Group taken by Ministry of Defence Police from RAF Weathersfield and returned to22W the Receiver subsequent to the conclusion of the Scott Inquiry; and what assessment the Government have made of the relevance of this material to the conclusions of the Scott Inquiry. [38780]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 20 April 1998]: MOD Police Fraud Squad Officers seized documentation, between 1990 and 1992, from the Astra group of companies during the course of an investigation into corruption involving those companies. All the seized documentation that belonged to the Astra group of companies was returned to their Receivers in June 1993 and June 1995.
Documentation held by the Astra Group's Receivers was examined by Sir Richard Scott's Inquiry and is catalogued at Appendix A Part C of the Inquiry Report; which is available in the Library of the House. Sir Richard Scott dealt with the relevance of the documentation to his Inquiry at paragraph D7.59 of his Report.
§ Mr. BrowneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will take steps to ensure that files relating to the Astra Group taken by Ministry of Defence Police from RAF Weathersfield and returned to the Receiver subsequent to the conclusion of the Scott Inquiry are made available for scrutiny by interested parties. [38781]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 20 April 1998]: MOD Police Fraud Squad Officers seized documentation, between 1990 and 1992, from the Astra group of companies during the course of an investigation into corruption involving those companies. All the seized documentation that belonged to the Astra group of companies was returned to their Receivers in June 1993 and June 1995.
The availability of that documentation for scrutiny is a matter for the Receiver.