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Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Disclosure of Information) Order 2008

By and large, we support these orders as we supported the efforts to deal with the proceeds of crime when the Act went through originally. We have recently discovered—it was widely stated in the press—that the Serious Organised Crime Agency has been suffering from a serious lack of efficiency. Can the Minister make a brief comment on that? At a time when we are delegating more powers to it, its capability and efficiency are relevant. Were the recent, widely reported raids on safety deposit boxes, which yielded amazing and wide-ranging contents, conducted under this legislation? I presume that they were and that the fact that these orders have come in now will not have any effect on the prosecutions which will result from what was discovered in those raids. Like the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, I am interested in examples of the protection of pubic health under the second order. I presume that they concern deliberate threats of contamination, blackmail and so on. On the overall issue of the performance of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Minister can expect that we will be asking serious questions about it over coming months. However, I am happy to say just that about these orders this afternoon.