Clause 65 - Assistance by offender: immunity from prosecution
Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill
11:00 am
Ms Caroline Flint (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (reducing organised and international crime, anti drugs co-ordination and international and European issues), Home Office; Don Valley, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman reflects a valid concern that decisions about the granting of immunity, undertakings and the use of Queen's evidence agreements should be taken at senior level within the relevant prosecuting bodies. However, it is not practicable or appropriate for the individual directors to take all those decisions themselves. They need the ability to designate them to appropriately senior and experienced colleagues, but within a framework of guidance. We do not intend the powers to be made widely available to all prosecutors; the directors are best placed to ensure that those decisions are taken at the appropriate level and the clause provides for that.
Given my assurances about how seriously we take the issues and about the framework of guidance, I hope that the hon. Gentleman will accept that there are adequate safeguards in the clause and will not press his amendment to a Division.