§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what powers the Insolvency Service's Prosecution Section has to investigate people in breach of(a) disqualification orders and (b) bankruptcy orders. [171614]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThe Insolvency Service's Prosecution Section (now Criminal Allegations Team) does not have any powers to investigate people who are in breach of(a) disqualification orders and (b) bankruptcy orders.
Allegations that individuals are breaching their disqualification orders or bankruptcy orders, which are supported by evidence and documentation are referred by the Criminal Allegations Team to the Department's Legal Services Directorate (Prosecutions), where a lawyer reviews the papers and decides on the course of action to be taken. If the lawyer concludes that the matter is suitable for a criminal investigation, an investigation officer is instructed to conduct such investigation and where necessary take witness statements for any prosecution.
§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many calls have been received by the Disqualified Directors Hotline of the Insolvency Service's Prosecution Section in the last 12 months; how many cases were taken forward by the Legal Services Directorate as a result; and if she will make a statement. [171615]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThe Disqualified Director's Hotline is now called "the Enforcement Hotline" but the telephone number remains the same.
438WFor the period May 2003 to April 2004 there were 807 calls made to the Hotline and these included invalid calls eg hang ups.
From these calls, 166 questionnaires were sent out and on the basis of the information received 36 cases were referred to the Legal Services Directorate (LSD) and of these 25 were accepted by LSD for full investigation. Most of these cases will still be under investigation.