§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Solicitor-General if he will make a statement on the level of successful prosecutions for fraud in(a) 1993, (b) 1997 and (c) 2002. [75894]
309W
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe Serious Fraud Office (SFO) collects data each year as follows:
Year (5 April-4 April) Number of Defendants Number of Convicted Conviction rate 1993–94 55 35 64% 1997–98 39 37 95% 5.4.02–up to21.10.02 12 10 83% These figures are impressive and consistently high. The SFO also judges its own performance by looking at accumulated figures since its inception in 1988. Here the conviction rate has steadily increased, particularly over the last five years. By 1993 the accumulated conviction rate by defendant was 63 per cent., in 1997 it was 66 per cent. and so far this year it has risen to 71 per cent.