{"value":{"id":1549218,"memberId":4888,"member":null,"memberRole":"The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Home Office","uin":"HLWS410","dateMade":"2022-12-07T00:00:00","answeringBodyId":1,"answeringBodyName":"Home Office","title":"Consultation seeking views on additional agencies to be granted Accredited Financial Investigation powers","text":"<p>My rt hon Friend the Minister of State for Security (Tom Tugendhat) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement:</p><p>I intend to lay a statutory instrument before the House next year which will amend the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (References to Financial Investigators) (England and Wales and Northern Ireland) Order 2021/640 to ensure that the new powers introduced in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill are operational and able to be used by accredited financial investigators.</p><p> </p><p>This SI will also grant Accredited Financial Investigator powers to an additional 5 agencies. This will bring the total number of agencies with access to these powers to 41 in addition to all police forces and local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p><p>Accredited Financial Investigator powers grant civilians working for that agency access to certain Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 powers, which assist in the effective recovery of proceeds of a crime that falls under that agency’s jurisdiction.</p><p> </p><p>The following organisations have sought access to Accredited Financial Investigator powers:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Security Industry Authority</li><li>Food Standards Agency</li><li>Environment Agency</li><li>Public Sector Fraud Authority</li><li>Department for Work and Pensions</li></ul><p> </p><p>I have assessed the value of extending the powers to each of these agencies—in particular whether effective criminal justice outcomes could be reached in their jurisdictions without access to these powers—and I have provisionally concluded that we should seek to grant the powers to all five. However, I intend to seek the views of the wider public as to whether these organisations should be granted these powers.</p><p> </p><p>As such, I am today publishing a consultation for twelve weeks. This consultation will seek to establish the views from the public on whether or not these organisations should be granted the financial investigator powers.</p><p> </p><p>A copy of the consultation document will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and also made available on GOV.UK.</p>","house":"Lords","noticeNumber":0,"hasAttachments":false,"hasLinkedStatements":true,"linkedStatements":[{"linkedStatementId":1549209,"linkType":"JointStatement","linkDate":"2022-12-07T00:00:00"}],"attachments":[]},"links":[{"rel":"self","href":"/Statements/1549218","method":"GET"}]}