§ Richard BurdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the progress of investigations into the Cheney Pension Scheme and the actions of Kevin Gordon Sykes. [9653]
§ Mr. McCartneyMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State asked Sir Gerald Hosker KCB QC to conduct an independent inquiry into the handling within Opra of the Cheney case and to report his findings to Ministers. We have received the report which contains a number of recommendations involving changes to Opra's procedures and legislation. Because of on-going police investigations it cannot be published until those investigations and any subsequent judicial processes are at an end. I will report further to Parliament at that time. In addition my right hon. Friend will shortly be announcing the Quinquennial Review of Opra, which will take a fundamental look at the delivery of Opra's functions and services.
To address weaknesses in the system highlighted by the Cheney Case, Opra has also conducted its own internal review and, as a result of this and the Hosker recommendations, has introduced the following changes to its casework handling procedures:
introduced specialist teamsimproved risk assessment procedures: higher risk cases are given the greatest attention440Wdeveloped improvements to the computer database, including computer based recording of all casework activityintroduced regular routine searches of the database on key individuals involved in a casecommissioned a major IT project to automate data matching.I shall keep the House informed.