Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lloyd Hatton and Lucy Rigby

Thursday 8th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lloyd Hatton (South Dorset) (Lab)]

9. What steps her Department is taking to support the Serious Fraud Office in tackling economic crime.

[The Solicitor General]

This Government are determined to crack down on the scourge of economic crime, and the Serious Fraud Office does crucial work to tackle complex fraud, bribery and corruption. Under its new director, the SFO has opened nine new overt investigations and charged 16 defendants. Just last week, I saw the SFO’s crucial work at first hand when I observed a dawn raid carried out in relation to a new multimillion-pound bribery investigation.

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; the vast majority of businesses do play by the rules, and fraud is so damaging precisely because it undermines everyone who plays fairly. That is why this Government are so determined to tackle it. I welcome the SFO’s recently revised guidance, which aims to drive up the number of corporates that self-report wrongdoing. That is a positive development that will foster good corporate citizenship, and it is an important contributor to this Government’s economic growth mission.

[Lloyd Hatton]

I thank the Solicitor General for her answer. Since their introduction in 2015, deferred prosecution agreements have resulted in the SFO raising some £1.7 billion in fines, yet those DPAs have dried up—the last DPAs that the Serious Fraud Office signed were some four years ago, in 2021. I welcome the SFO’s new strategy to ramp up enforcement, including new guidance to make it simpler to report crimes, but I believe we can and must go further. Can the Solicitor General outline what steps the Government are taking to support the SFO in ensuring that whistleblowers are also incentivised to come forward?

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. The director of the SFO has expressed strong support for the financial incentivisation of whistleblowers, and the SFO’s five-year strategy commits to exploring options, working with partners in the UK and abroad. Reform would require careful assessment, and it is right that any suggestions that could enhance the SFO’s efficiency and our ability as a country to tackle serious fraud, bribery and corruption are properly considered.