Clause 43 - Application, discharge and variation
Proceeds of Crime Bill
9:30 am
Mr Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield, Conservative)
I am pretty sure that I had a query on this clause. Ah, yes—may I ask the Minister to consider who will be able to initiate the process of application for a restraint order? I am mindful of the fact that the matter might be better addressed when we consider clause 68. However, past practice is that those who could initiate had to be police officers of superintendent rank or customs officers of equivalent rank. We are now to allow financial investigators of the sort specified in an order by the Secretary of State to do that. I understand the reason for that, but the Minister will understand that the earlier legislation provided that there must be a police superintendent or a customs officer of equivalent rank, to ensure that powers were used only in appropriate cases. What reassurance can the Minister provide about how the system will be set up, so as to ensure that the financial investigator who may initiate such applications commands confidence in the same way?