Written question asked by David Davis (Conservative) on Monday, 17 March 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 19 March 2008. It was answered by Jack Straw (Labour) on Tuesday, 1 April 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Financial Reporting Orders

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2008, Official Report, column 156W, on financial reporting orders, for what reason the Serious Organised Crime Agency Annual Report for 2006-07 states that 12 such orders are in place.

Answer: The SOCA annual report 2006-07 gave the number of orders, which the Agency had successfully obtained in that period. The information in my reply of 10 March 2008, Official Report, column 756W, was prepared looking only at principal sentencing disposals, in line with standard practice. As the financial order is not a ““primary disposal”” of the courts, this led to the discrepancy in my earlier reply, and the impression—which I regret—that none had been issued when 12 had. I continue to be concerned about the reliability of court data and have asked for serious work to be undertaken to make it more informative.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 474 c891W; 195714
Session: 2007-08
Related items: Financial Reporting Orders
Monday, 10 March 2008
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Financial reporting orders
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk