Clause 2 - Director's functions: general
Proceeds of Crime Bill
11:30 am
Mr Bob Ainsworth (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Coventry North East, Labour)
The amendment would remove the requirement on the director to have regard to the guidance given to him by the Secretary of State about how he might exercise his functions in a way that is best calculated to contribute to the reduction of crime. The Secretary of State would then have no statutory authority to give guidance to the director at all. The amendment would not prevent the Secretary of State from providing guidance but it would remove the obligation on the director to have regard to it.
The provision of guidance to the director by the Secretary of State is an important element in the operation of the new agency. The intention is that the guidance will help the director to fulfil his responsibilities under the Bill, and will focus on how he can best contribute to the reduction of crime in accordance with subsection (1). The Secretary of State is well placed to give such guidance, given his overall remit on the reduction of crime.
We envisage that the guidance will have two main functions. First, it makes clear that the Secretary of State's view is that the reduction of crime will generally be best achieved by the prosecution of offenders. That is important, and provides the reassurance that many hon. Members have sought. The pursuit of the proceeds of crime will not be used as a soft option and an alternative to normal prosecution. Normal prosecution should come first, and considerations on the recovery of the proceeds of crime should not impinge on that decision, which should be taken in the normal way.
Secondly, the guidance will set out how, in the Secretary of State's view, the various methods of asset recovery might contribute to the reduction of crime. The document that I have issued is not set in stone. It represents our current thoughts about what the guidance would be. I assure the hon. Member for Beaconsfield that it is not our intention to issue further guidance notes delving into other areas. That is the kind of guidance that we envisage is covered in the Bill, and that should be provided to the director. We do not intend that different aspects of the work should be covered in subsequent guidance notes, but that such guidance, or some variation of it, as we refine our thinking, is the guidance under which the director will operate.