Serious Fraud Office

Mr. Laws
To ask the Solicitor General how many staff worked for the Serious Fraud Office in each year from 1988–89 to 2003–04 (planned); and if she will make a statement.[99833]

The Solicitor-General
The following table provides all the relevant Serious Fraud Office statistics in relation to numbers of staff employed by the SFO from its inception in April 1988 to 2003–04 (planned).-------------------
|Financial Year   |
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|1988–89          |
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|1989–90          |
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|1990–91          |
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|1991–92          |
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|1992–93          |
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|1993–94          |
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|1994–95          |
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|1995–96          |
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|1996–97          |
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|1997–98          |
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|1998–99          |
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|1999–2000        |
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|2000–01          |
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|2001002          |
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|2002–03          |
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|2003–04 (planned)|
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Staffing levels at the Serious Fraud Office have steadily increased over the last four years. This has been necessary in order to accept a higher caseload and to compensate, in part for the reduction in the number of police officers made available to the SFO. The SFO continues to be an important tool in the fight against white-collar crime and its dedicated and professional staff play a fundamental role in the fight against fraud.