Clause 71 - Financial reporting orders: effect
Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill
2:45 pm
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)
Our view, after some discussion, is that people in prison do manage to continue to oversee their financial activities in a number of ways. They may not have an accountant, but they have visits from family members and others. Considering the range of people who may be affected by a financial reporting order, it is important to recognise that someone outside prison could squirrel away a huge amount of money, or transfer assets or put them in someone else's name, in order to continue the business in another form. We did not want to lose an opportunity to deal with that. I am glad to hear that in principle the hon. Gentleman sees merit in that argument.
On subsection (10), we have taken advice on a number of provisions in the Bill covering such offences such as, for instance, people not complying with disclosure orders or giving incorrect information. Subsection (10) was drafted after consultation with a number of different people, so I shall write to the hon. Gentleman to explain why we felt that it was appropriate.