How many prosecutions have been brought under the Fraud Act 2006.

I answer only for the prosecutors whom the Law Officers superintend—not for the Department for Work and Pensions or the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, for instance.

The number of offences under the 2006 Act are as follows: there were 9,221 in 2007 and 22,687 in 2008. This year, until 20 February, there have been 4,148. Small and very large frauds are included; it is difficult to make much of the figures.

We supported the 2006 Act because the Government suggested that the consolidation of fraud legislation would dramatically increase prosecutions for fraud. Is the Solicitor-General satisfied that that is happening and that the Act is being used properly, correctly and to successful effect by our prosecutors?

On the face of those figures, it appears that the Act is being used substantially—there was a great increase between 2007, when it was very new, and 2008, by which time everybody had had full training about it and appreciated its simplicity and utility. On the face of it, it looks as if the Act is being used extensively. As I said, it is hard to make very much of such bald figures.