International - Written by on Monday, June 20, 2011 12:19 - 0 Comments

Solicitor General confirms fears for SFO’s future “unfounded”

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In a letter to the FT on Saturday 18th June Edward Garnier, QC, MP Solicitor General, of the Attorney General’s office, responded to comments made by the departing General Counsel of the SFO, Vivian Robinson QC in article last week in the FT which questioned the future of the SFO.

Before the recent announcement by the Home Secretary Theresa May MP, Richard Alderman, the Director of the SFO, and Vivian Robinson its departing General Counsel had said that in addition to confirmation that plans to break up the SFO were scrapped they wished a more positive statement about its future.

Edward Garnier the Solicitor General has now provided that certainty.

Putting to bed once and for all suggestions that the SFO’s future remains clouded with uncertainty the Solicitor General said:

“The SFO’s future is settled for the foreseeable future, as has been explained on numerous occasions in and out of parliament by the home secretary, the attorney-general and me.”

Adding unequivocally:

“There is no mystery, no confusion and no need for suggestions to the contrary.”

For a complete copy of the Solicitor General’s letter click here.

The statement mirrors comments made by Richard Alderman in an interview with the Independent Newspaper on 14th June where he reportedly commented that he believed the future of the SFO was secured and that the focus was now to “rebuild the SFO… “ and noted that he thought the SFO had been set back by the recent uncertainty by between “six to nine months.”

In a separate story at the weekend the Daily Telegraph reported that the Serious Fraud Office is discussing the possibility of sharing offices with the City of London Police when the lease on its Elm Street office expires next year.

At the weekend the Daily Telegraph reported that Adrian Leppard City of London Police Commissioner said:

“We are in active discussions with the SFO about how we put more formal arrangements in place about our closer working relationship. We are never going to be a merged organisation but we can do more to work more efficiently.”

Today the Daily Telegraph ran a more detailed interview with Mr. Leppard.

Image © Crown Copyright 2011

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