To ask the Attorney-General how many cases were in court or under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office at (a) 1 April 1990, (b) 1 October 1990, (c) 1 April 1991 and (d) 1 October 1991 respectively; and how many lawyers and investigative staff were employed by the office at each date, distinguishing between those employed permanently and those employed temporarily.
The total number of cases under investigation and in court at the dates stipulated were as follows:
| Under investigation | At court | |
| 1 April 1990 | 32 | 29 |
| 1 October 1990 | 27 | 40 |
| 1 April 1991 | 19 | 37 |
| 1 October 1991 | 15 | 42 |
Cases under investigation are those where a decision whether or not to institute criminal proceedings has not yet been taken. Cases in court are those in which proceedings have commenced whether or not the proceedings were at the final court of trial. The figure of 50 cases given on Monday, 14 October 1991, in answer to a question from the hon. Member at column 36 is consistent with, but calculated on a different basis from, the figures here reported. The figure of 57 cases for October 1991 counts separate transfers or committals resulting from a common investigation as separate cases, whereas the figure of 50 does not.
The number of permanent staff employed as lawyers and investigative accountants at these dates were as follows:
Lawyers
| Investigative accountants
| |
| 1 April 1990 | 18 | 14 |
| 1 October 1990 | 19 | 16 |
| 1 April 1991 | 19 | 16 |
| 1 October 1991 | 19 | 19 |
The number of temporary staff in these categories was three lawyers and nine investigative accountants at 1 October 1991 and two lawyers and 10 accountants at 1 April 1991. The figures for 1990 are not available. These figures exclude the use of counsel and staff from private sector accountancy firms engaged to work on individual cases.