Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Investigative Powers of Prosecutors in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: Code of Practice) Order 2008

At the beginning of her speech, the noble and learned Baroness generously apologised for the inadvertent absence of the Explanatory Memorandum on the previous occasion. These things happen on the best run vessels, and I do not believe that any damage has been done to the national interest. The order flows from the changes made to Part 8 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 by the Serious Crime Act 2007. We made it clear at the time of the passage of the then Bill that in principle we supported the changes, the most important of which has been to abolish the Assets Recovery Agency and transfer its civil recovery functions to the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the four main prosecuting authorities in England and Wales. As the noble and learned Baroness explained, the order brings into operation a code of practice that provides guidance for prosecutors on their exercise of powers of investigation under the 2002 Act. As I understand it, the earlier code has been revised to take account of the changes introduced by the 2007 Act. I have just two questions for the noble and learned Baroness. First, as she must know, concerns have been raised in Northern Ireland that SOCA’s priorities will be such that cases of intimidation and local protection rackets will be considered insufficiently substantial to attract its attention. Secondly, I would be most grateful if she could assure the Committee that the costs of recovering assets, as well as the amounts recovered, will be made public on a regular basis. The change that she has introduced should not be at the expense of transparency.