The CPS views wildlife crime offences very seriously and will robustly prosecute cases referred by the police. In order to achieve this, the CPS has thirteen wildlife co-ordinators based in its regional Areas. They are supported by face to face training and legal guidance on wildlife offences, which is available to all prosecutors and to the public.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/69", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North East Hertfordshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Oliver Heald"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-05-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-05-13T12:00:00.00Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "88"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-05-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Crime: Nature Conservation"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Attorney General, what steps he has taken to improve prosecution of wildlife crime.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/255", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr David Heath"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Somerton and Frome"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr David Heath"} ], "uin" : "904021"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/49746", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Attorney General"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/49746/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Allegations of benefit fraud are investigated by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Administrative penalties are financial penalties, which can be offered as an alternative to prosecution, where there has been no previous fraud penalty of any form. These are issued by the DWP and Local Authorities. Cautions are issued by the Police.<\/p>
The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and, reached a first hearing in magistrates' courts, rather than the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted or their gender.<\/p>
No central records of the prosecution outcomes of offences are held by the CPS. To obtain details of the number of people prosecuted for and convicted of offences of benefit fraud, which can be charged under various sections of the Social Security Administration Act 1992, Section 35 of the Tax Credits Act 2002 or the Fraud Act 2006, including their gender, would require a manual exercise of reviewing individual case files to be undertaken at a disproportionate cost.<\/p>
Furthermore, cases of benefit fraud are also prosecuted by Local Authorities so any data the CPS can glean from a manual exercise would not provide a complete record.<\/p>
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The Attorney General's Office collects a range of performance data and management information, tailored to its different functions. This includes information for example about its litigation, casework, supervisory and advisory functions, covering timeliness, results and resources. This information is collated for management purposes at team level, and reviewed at Board level against business objectives and departmental priorities, as revised from time to time. Responsibility for collecting management information rests with teams. No individual official has exclusive responsibility for management information and the Executive Board has overall responsibility.<\/p>
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