HC Deb 26 January 2004 vol 417 c110W
Mrs. Lawrence

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on financial services. [151508]

Ruth Kelly

As I set out in my written statement on 5 January 2004,Official Report, column 1, Lord Penrose delivered the report of his inquiry into Equitable Life to the Treasury on 23 December.

I can report that Lord Penrose has also made his report available to the Serious Fraud Office; and having studied the contents of the report the Treasury has asked the Serious Fraud Office to consider a number of issues raised in the report.

As I set out in my statement of 5 January, the Treasury intends to publish the report in full as soon as possible. I will keep the House fully informed.

I can also confirm that, purely for the purpose of informing the Government's response on specific items of policy, relevant extracts of the report have been shown to named officials of the DTI.