HC Deb 18 March 2002 vol 382 cc154-5W
Mr. Menzies Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 23 January 2002,Official Report, columns 851–52W, on stolen equipment, what criminal proceedings have been undertaken for cases of theft against his Department, stating in each case (a) whether the proceedings (i) led to a criminal conviction and (ii) were unsuccessful, (b) the cost incurred by his Department in pursuing a conviction and (c) the value of items recovered; and if he will make a statement. [41513]

Malcolm Wicks

The Department does not hold centrally information regarding criminal proceedings, or any follow-up actions, which have been undertaken in cases of theft against the Department. Any incident of break-in is always referred to the police for investigation. Some information may be recorded locally, on a case by case basis, but meaningful retrieval would be impractical within timeframes and costs.

The Department takes its responsibilities with regard to theft and fraud very seriously and has put in place a wide range of security measures to deter and detect such events.

One of these measures is teams of internal investigators who investigate cases of suspected internal theft and fraud when they do arise.

The investigations result in a wide range of disciplinary outcomes including referral for criminal proceedings.

During a four year period from 1 May 1997 to 31 March 2001 the Department have referred 52 cases of internal fraud for consideration of criminal proceedings. Of these 52, 50 cases were successfully brought to prosecution. Although the theft of official equipment is taken very seriously, there are no records during this period of cases of internal theft of official equipment where prosecution was deemed appropriate.

However within the current Treasury year 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002, there has been one successful investigation for theft of official equipment. Following referral for consideration of formal criminal proceedings, the outcome was successful in achieving a conviction. The offender being found guilty and a sentence of 60 hours community service imposed and a compensation order of £250.