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1355845

	registered interest
	date	15/09/2021
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Attorney General: Flags
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of Union Jack flags purchased by her Department in each of the last two years were manufactured in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
	tabling member printed	Justin Madders
	uin	50049
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/09/2021 answer text <p>The Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Government Legal Department (GLD) and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) have not purchased any Union Flags over the last two years.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 50050 question first answered 24/09/2021 13:41:46 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1355846

	registered interest
	date	15/09/2021
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Attorney General: Flags
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, if she will list the companies that have supplied Union Jack flags to her Department since 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
	tabling member printed	Justin Madders
	uin	50050
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/09/2021 answer text <p>The Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Government Legal Department (GLD) and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) have not purchased any Union Flags over the last two years.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 50049 question first answered 24/09/2021 13:41:46 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1356352

	registered interest
	date	16/09/2021
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	British American Tobacco: Corruption
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, whether her Department's investigation into British American Tobacco in South Africa and Zimbabwe included investigating the allegations and interviewing the witnesses in the BBC Panorama programme on this topic; and whether the Serious Fraud Office plan investigating these allegations further.
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham North
	tabling member printed	Alex Norris
	uin	50754
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/09/2021 answer text <p>Following a three-year investigation, 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 does not provide detailed commentary on how it conducts its investigations.</p><p> </p><p>The SFO continues to assist our international law enforcement partners with ongoing investigations related to this matter and will assess any new material it receives.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 21/09/2021 11:22:06 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4641 label Biography information for Alex Norris

1356840

	registered interest
	date	20/09/2021
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	British American Tobacco: Fraud
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, what plans she has to refer the allegations made in the BBC’s Panorama programme of 12 September 2021 regarding British American Tobacco to the Serious Fraud Office.
	tabling member constituency	Harrow East
	tabling member printed	Bob Blackman
	uin	51674
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2021 answer text <p>The SFO is aware of the allegations made in the BBC’s Panorama programme of 12 September 2021. Following a three-year investigation into the 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.</p><p> </p><p>The SFO continues to assist its international law enforcement partners with ongoing investigations related to this matter and will assess any new material it receives. The SFO does not comment on the actions it takes to assess allegations.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 27/09/2021 11:30:53 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4005 label Biography information for Bob Blackman

1356842

	registered interest
	date	20/09/2021
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	British American Tobacco: Corruption
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	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.
	tabling member constituency	Harrow East
	tabling member printed	Bob Blackman
	uin	51675
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2021 answer text <p>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.</p><p>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.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 27/09/2021 11:32:40 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4005 label Biography information for Bob Blackman

1359411

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Attorney General: Correspondence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, what steps she is taking to improve her Department's response times to correspondence from members of the public.
	tabling member constituency	Orkney and Shetland
	tabling member printed	Mr Alistair Carmichael
	uin	56449
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2021 answer text <p>This Government recognises the importance of responding to members of the public in an effective and timely manner, and the Cabinet Office published an updated Guide to Handling Correspondence for government departments and agencies on July 2021.</p><p> </p><p>The guidance reasserts the standards for handling correspondence, including a 20 working day deadline for departments to respond to members of the public, criteria outlining when a response to a member of the public is required, and when a piece of correspondence from a member of the public should be transferred to another department. Following publication of the updated guidance, all departments have been reminded that they must follow the processes outlined in the guidance. The Attorney General’s Office always aims to respond to public correspondence within 20 working days where it falls within our remit.</p><p> </p><p>My department's timeliness in responding to MP letters and Freedom of Information requests is among the best in the civil service. Since January 1<sup>st</sup> 2018, 80% of MP and Lords letters my department received were responded to within our target of 20 working days, and 99% of Freedom of Information requests were responded to within the statutory time limit. I am confident that public correspondence is responded to by my office in a similarly timely fashion and that every effort is made by my officials to respond as promptly as possible.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 25/10/2021 08:25:06 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	1442 label Biography information for Mr Alistair Carmichael

1359528

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	International Corruption Unit: Prosecutions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many cases referred by the National Crime Agency's International Corruption Unit the Crown Prosecution Service has reached charging decisions on for each year in the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Barking
	tabling member printed	Dame Margaret Hodge
	uin	56493
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2021 answer text <p>The CPS is committed to tackling economic crime, including where these crimes span multiple jurisdictions. The CPS works closely with the National Crime Agency (NCA) and other investigative agencies; this includes providing early investigative advice on cases, obtaining evidence from overseas using mutual legal assistance and proving support through its network of prosecutors deployed overseas.</p><p> </p><p>The CPS does not breakdown referrals by individual departments within the NCA. The following data is available which shows the number of cases received by the CPS Specialist Fraud Division from the National Crime Agency for pre-charge decisions.</p><p><strong>Pre-charge decision receipts</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td>2016-2017</td><td>2017-2018</td><td>2018-2019</td><td>2019-2020</td><td>2020-2021</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>26</td><td>20</td><td>6</td><td>42</td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The following shows number of cases where charging decisions have been reached.</p><p><strong>Pre-charge decision finalisations</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td>2016-2017</td><td>2017-2018</td><td>2018-2019</td><td>2019-2020</td><td>2020-2021</td></tr><tr><td>0</td><td>2</td><td>26</td><td>42</td><td>34</td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 56741 question first answered 25/10/2021 08:18:09 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	140 label Biography information for Dame Margaret Hodge

1359716

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Attorney General: Visits Abroad
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, what overseas visits have been made by (a) herself, her predecessor or senior officials in her Department, (b) the Director of Public Prosecutions or senior CPS officials and (c) the Director of the Serious Fraud Office or senior officers over the last 12 months; which countries were visited; what matters were discussed; and whether covid-19 quarantine rules were followed by all people making such visits.
	tabling member constituency	Wyre Forest
	tabling member printed	Mark Garnier
	uin	57006
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2021 answer text <p>The Attorney General, Solicitor General and senior officials in the department have not undertaken any overseas visits in the last 12 months.</p><p> </p><p>In June 2021, Lisa Osofsky (The Director of the Serious Fraud Office) and John Carroll (Chief Operating Officer of the Serious Fraud Office) visited the United States of America (USA). The purpose of the visit was to meet strategic partners and discuss collaboration and cooperation in tackling serious and complex economic crime. They both followed Covid protocols throughout their time abroad and on returning to the UK.</p><p> </p><p>In October 2021, on a visit to the USA, the Director attended a work meeting with DOJ Senior Officials. In this meeting, she met with American Operational partners and discussed collaboration and cooperation in tackling serious and complex economic crime. The Director followed Covid protocols in place for foreign travel.</p><p> </p><p>No overseas visits have been undertaken by any other Senior SFO Officer over the past 12 months.</p><p> </p><p>Over the past 12 months, the Director of Public Prosecutions completed two overseas business trips, to Poland and the United States. During both visits, the DPP met key stakeholders, including HMG officials. Both of these visits provided an important opportunity to demonstrate support for CPS Liaison Prosecutors based in these jurisdictions and to cement the importance of their role and our cooperation with our international partners.</p><p> </p><p>On both occasions, there were no requirements to quarantine on entry into either country, or on return to the UK.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 25/10/2021 08:01:17 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4074 label Biography information for Mark Garnier

1359750

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Serious Fraud Office: Prosecutions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many (a) company self-referrals, (b) whistleblower, (c) victim, (d) professional advisory, (e) competitor and (f) other referrals have been made to the Serious Fraud Office in each financial year between 2015-16 and 2020-21.
	tabling member constituency	Thirsk and Malton
	tabling member printed	Kevin Hollinrake
	uin	57166
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2021 answer text <p>The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) receives a large number of reports and referrals from multiple different sources relating to a wide range of offences. Whistleblower referrals have been routinely published in the SFO Annual Report on Whistleblowing Disclosures since 2017. The figures are set out below:</p><p> </p><ul><li>During the period from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021, the SFO managed 175 whistleblowing disclosures.</li><li>During the period from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020, the SFO managed 128 whistleblowing disclosures.</li><li>During the period from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019, the SFO managed 137 whistleblowing disclosures.</li><li>During the period from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018, the SFO managed 102 whistleblowing disclosures.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p>The SFO does not hold a detailed breakdown of the number of referrals within each of the other categories requested. However, the total number of all other referrals made to the SFO within the time period requested are set out below:</p><p> </p><ul><li>During the period from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 the SFO managed 1335 non whistleblower referrals.</li><li>During the period from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 the SFO managed 1160 non whistleblower referrals.</li><li>During the period from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 the SFO managed 1151 non whistleblower referrals.</li><li>During the period from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 the SFO managed 1045 non whistleblower referrals.</li><li>During the period from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 the SFO managed 1397 referrals – including whistleblower reports received in this financial year.</li><li>During the period from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016 the SFO managed 2749 referrals – including whistleblower reports received in this financial year.</li></ul> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 20/10/2021 09:29:02 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake

1360268

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Prosecutions: Standards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many open cases the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has closed due to the CPS sending queries to those that had submitted the case, but receiving no response in the allotted time, in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020 and (d) 2021.
	tabling member constituency	Twickenham
	tabling member printed	Munira Wilson
	uin	57385
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2021 answer text <p>The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) may close cases at the pre-charge stage as ‘pending response – further investigation’ for a number of reasons, which are not limited to queries about submitted cases. The reasons could include, for example, that the suspect had died. However, it is not possible to distinguish in the CPS figures between the reasons.</p><p> </p><p>Closing a case that is pending response for further investigation is known as an ‘administrative finalisation’, not a legal decision, and may not be the end of the case. The table below shows the numbers finalised pending response for further investigation, excluding submissions for early advice (EA), per calendar year.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><strong>2018</strong></td><td><strong>2019</strong></td><td><strong>2020</strong></td><td><strong>2021*</strong></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Pending Response - Further Investigation</strong></p><strong>(excluding EA)</strong></td><td>30,782</td><td>28,209</td><td>23,978</td><td>6,196</td></tr></tbody></table><p>*In line with the CPS publication policy the 2021 figure covers January – March 2021.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 20/10/2021 09:42:57 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4776 label Biography information for Munira Wilson