HC Deb 10 May 2004 vol 421 cc145-7W
Norman Lamb

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) when HM Customs and Excise were first informed of the discovery of the informant record for Mr. Alfred Allington; and for what reasons the existence of this record was not referred to in the Butterfield Review; [171048]

  1. (2) if he will make a statement on effects of excise diversion fraud on London City bonded warehouses; [171049]
  2. (3) whether he intends to re-open the Butterfield Inquiry following recent court evidence concerning Mr. Alfred Allington's relationship with HM Customs and Excise; [171058]
  3. (4) pursuant to his written ministerial statement of 8 December 2003, if he will make a further statement on the practices and procedures of disclosure, associated investigation techniques and case management in HM Customs and Excise criminal cases; [171060]
  4. (5) when (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department were first informed of the existence of the informant record for Mr. Alfred Allington; and if he will make a statement; [171074]
  5. (6) how many prosecutions relating to London City Bond (a) have been reviewed, (b) are to be reviewed and (c) have been overturned. [171075]

John Healey

The effects of the excise diversion frauds involving the London City Bond warehouse, and the validity of HM Customs and Excise's practices and procedures of disclosure, associated investigation techniques and case management in criminal cases, were fully considered in independent reviews by Mr. John Roques and Mr. Justice Butterfield, both of which are available in the Library of the House. Recommendations arising from those reviews are being implemented, as announced most recently in the Written Ministerial Statements of 15 July and 8 December 2003 by the Attorney-General and I.

24 London City Bond-related cases have been reviewed. There are no further cases to be reviewed. 48 convictions, in 8 cases, have to date been overturned on appeal, of which 5 appeals (totalling 35 convictions) had been heard before the Customs and Excise Prosecutions Office launched its wider review of cases following the decision in November 2002 to offer no evidence in London City Bond-related cases before Liverpool Crown Court.

Customs has trawled all areas of the Department for any material of potential relevance. Where further disclosable material has been uncovered, it has been passed directly to the Metropolitan Police to assist their investigation into the circumstances of the collapse of the London City Bond cases, and to Mr. Justice Butterfield. That trawl, by Customs officials, brought to light the record relating to Mr. Alfred Allington at the end of June 2003; the documents were handed over to Mr. Justice Butterfield in mid July. The Customs and Excise Prosecutions Office informed the Attorney-General of the Alf Allington informant record issue on 20 January 2004, as part of a general briefing about the review of London City Bond-related cases. A copy of that submission was sent to me on that date. It would not be proper to comment on the significance of this material, and whether it gives rise to any need to re-open Mr. Justice Butterfield's review, until any other proceedings to which it is relevant have been completed.