§ Mr. Michael Brownasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the arrangements by which cases of serious commercial fraud are investigated.
§ Mr. LawsonThe Government have reviewed the arrangemens for investigation and prosecution of fraud cases. This work has been complementary to that of the committee under the chairmanship of Lord Roskill, announced by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 8 November 1983 at column83, which is considering the conduct of criminal proceedings in England and Wales arising from fraud.
The Government have concluded that the present arrangements by which fraud investigation groups comprising representatives of the police, the DTI and the Director of Public Prosecutions, are constituted on an ad hoc basis for particular cases, should be put on a permanent basis. This new fraud investigation group will be set up in the Department of the Director of Public Prosecutions. It will be headed by a controller, who will report to the Director and, through him, to my right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General. The group will be staffed by prosecuting lawyers, specialist accountants and the necessary support staff. Some of the new staff will be seconded from the DTI. The group will be able to request the DTI to carry out investigations under the Companies Acts, although final decisions on such investigations would still be for the Secretary of State. The group will also work in close co-operation with the police.
The new arrangements will be established on 1 January 1985 and be brought into full operation as soon as possible thereafter. Detailed ground rules for the referral of cases to the new group are under discussion. A further announcement will be made in due course about the implications for the Department's expenditure provisions.