Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the BBC Panorama programme of 12 September 2021, whether the Serious Fraud Office plans to review its assessment of the compliance of British American Tobacco with the Bribery Act 2010 in response to the findings of the Panorama programme.

Following a three-year investigation into British American Tobacco, in January 2021 the SFO determined that this case did not meet the evidential tests as defined in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. As with all cases that fail this first limb of the Code, it was therefore not in the public interest to continue with the investigation.

The SFO is aware of the allegations made in the BBC’s Panorama programme of 12 September 2021 and will review and assess any material which is provided to it.