Mr. Gareth R. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action his Department is taking to combat economic crime; and if he will make a statement. [2687]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe Government fully recognise the harm which economic crime inflicts on its victims, not only in terms of the financial loss but in terms of the frustration and inconvenience caused. Living off the proceeds of crime cannot be tolerated in a fair and just society, and the Government are determined that crime should not pay.
The Proceeds of Crime Bill, which was announced in the Queen's Speech, will attack the profit motive which drives organised criminals. The Bill will contain measures to deprive people of money and property which they have obtained through criminal activity. These measures include reforming confiscation procedures and modernising the criminal law on money laundering and the creation of a new agency, the National Confiscation Agency (NCA), which will co-ordinate the activity of the 612W police, Customs, the Inland Revenue and prosecutors to remove assets obtained illegally and to encourage international co-operation in this. Removing illegal gains from criminals not only acts as a deterrent but reduces their ability to fund further crime.
A large proportion of economic crime involves credit card fraud. The Home Office is currently working closely with the financial institutions and the retail sector to reduce credit card fraud by the introduction of chip cards and personal identification numbers as security safeguards. My right hon. Friend the Minister of State responsible for policing of crime and community safety will be chairing a meeting with senior members of these industries to discuss credit card fraud issues later this month.
In addition to this, a working group led by the Serious Fraud Office has been formed to investigate how we can improve the overall response to fraud. The group will be reporting to Ministers later in the year.
Mr. Gareth R. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made for the cost of(a) credit card fraud, (b) other fraud and (c) all economic crime in each of the last six years. [2686]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe information is as follows:
(a) The banking industry (the Association of Payment Clearing Services) estimated that the cost of total reported losses due to credit card fraud in each of the last six years was:
£ million 1995 83.3 1996 97.1 1997 122.0 1998 135.0 1999 188.4 2000 292.6 (b) A report commissioned by the Home Office and the Serious Fraud Office entitled 'The Economic Cost of Fraud' (copies of which have been placed in the Library) was published in March 2000 by National Economic Research Associates. This report recognised that the available data were patchy and infrequently gathered, but offered a low estimate of £6.6 billion and a high estimate of £13.6 billion for the total economic cost of other fraud (excluding credit card fraud) for the year ending 1999. These estimates include amounts defrauded, investigation and deterrence costs
(c) There is no accepted definition of "economic crime". However, Home Office Research Study no. 217 "The economic and social cost of crime" (copies of which have been placed in the Library) estimated that in total, fraud, commercial and public sector victimisation and property crimes against households and individuals cost around £32 billion in 1999–2000. Estimates have not been made for previous years.