Clause 6 - Making of order
Proceeds of Crime Bill
8:55 am
Mr George Foulkes (Minister of State, Scottish Office; Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Labour/Co-operative)
I thank the Opposition spokesman and you, Mr. O'Brien. It may assist the Committee and the Opposition spokespersons from both parties in their consideration of part 2 if I inform them of the Government's discussions with the Scottish Executive on the confiscation provisions in part 3.
My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary and I have taken note with our colleagues in the Scottish Executive of the comments made on Second Reading about the discrepancy in the Bill between the discretionary scheme for Scotland and the mandatory scheme envisaged for the remainder of the United Kingdom. Concern was expressed by a number of Members of the Scottish Parliament that the proposed confiscation arrangements for Scotland are insufficiently robust. I have discussed the matter again with Jim Wallace, the Deputy First Minister, Colin Boyd, the Law Advocate, and Iain Gray, the Deputy Minister for Justice in Scotland. The Executive have always shared the Government's view of the importance of ensuring that confiscation is pursued in every appropriate case and are mindful that the judiciary in Scotland has regularly imposed confiscation orders under the current discretionary system. Nevertheless, our colleagues on the Executive have decided that there is a strong case for ensuring consistency of approach in this matter throughout the United Kingdom. Therefore, the Government are reviewing the discretionary approach set out in part 3 and I hope to inform the Committee of our conclusions in the near future.