Extracts from Commons consideration of the Draft Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Search, Seizure and Detention of Property: Code of Practice) Order 2018 - Dec 4
Tuesday, 5 December 2017 08:02
Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) (Lab):...We also note with concern
that the said powers will be conferred on immigration officers.
Although that makes sense in theory, will the Minister explain
whether that includes agents of the state such as G4Sand
Serco? I remind the Government of the complete lack of trust in
those agencies, following recent revelations in immigration
detention centres, such as Brook House and Yarl’s Wood. If we
cannot trust those individuals to deal with human...Request free trial
(Swansea East)
(Lab):...We also note with concern that the said powers
will be conferred on immigration officers. Although that makes
sense in theory, will the Minister explain whether that includes
agents of the state such as G4Sand Serco? I remind the Government of the
complete lack of trust in those agencies, following recent
revelations in immigration detention centres, such as Brook House
and Yarl’s Wood. If we cannot trust those individuals to deal with
human beings professionally, that clearly indicates that we may not
be able to trust them with other matters. Those matters aside,
which we would appreciate the Minister’s assurances on, we will
support the orders...
The Minister for Security (Mr Ben
Wallace):...I am grateful for the points made by the
hon. Member for Swansea East. I can set her mind at rest: we are
not in any way envisaging that G4S, Serco or anyone else will be
empowered by these new powers. I have heard her points about
resourcing the correct individuals to pursue the proceeds of crime.
There are two parts to that. First, there were many valid points in
reports published by the Public Accounts Committee and the Home
Affairs Committee about 18 months ago. I have used those reports as
a reference to try to push for better recoveries. Some of those
points were about basic day-to-day processes that have not always
been undertaken, such as police officers not routinely loading
confiscation orders on to the police national computer. Those
orders are a matter of public record, so it would not be obvious to
a police officer who stopped someone driving around in Lancashire
in a brand new Range Rover that they happened to have a
confiscation order outstanding. We are on our way to improving
that...
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