Contributions
793 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEconomic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillI beg leave to withdraw the amendment.14 Mar 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillI support the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer. I accept that it is unlikely to go into this Bill, but I very much hope that it will go into mark 2. I do not share the…14 Mar 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillMy Lords, in view of that, I will not press my Amendment 44.14 Mar 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillMy Lords, I shall speak in support of my amendment, which seeks to achieve two things: an annual review of the funding adequacy of our crime-fighting agencies in this area, and a…14 Mar 2022HANSARDCoronavirus Grant Schemes: FraudI thank the noble Lord for his important question. I am here to defend the Government’s record in the deployment of counter-fraud measures over the last two years or so. However,…24 Jan 2022HANSARDDevolved Governments: Public ExpenditureMy Lords, as I said in my opening Answer, the Scottish Government are accountable to their electorate and to the Treasury here for how they spend their money. They have had a very…20 Jan 2022HANSARDDevolved Governments: Public ExpenditureMy Lords, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury is responsible for the Treasury’s relationship with the devolved Administrations and last met their Finance Ministers a week ago, on…20 Jan 2022HANSARDDevolved Governments: Public ExpenditureI agree with my noble friend that any wastage in government is extremely distressing, certainly to me. In October of last year, we reached an agreement with the Scottish…20 Jan 2022HANSARDDevolved Governments: Public ExpenditureMy Lords, we are certainly keen to see more transparency. At the moment, the Treasury receives monthly reports on expenditure—but I accept that more transparency would be useful.20 Jan 2022HANSARDDevolved Governments: Public ExpenditureThe noble Lord raises a very good point. I believe that I will be coming back on Monday to deal with an Urgent Question on this specific subject. I would remind noble Lords that…20 Jan 2022HANSARDDevolved Governments: Public ExpenditureMy Lords, I think we all know that the Barnett formula was something of a fudge, put together many years ago. It is an extremely complicated thing to try to unravel. We know that…20 Jan 2022HANSARDDevolved Governments: Public ExpenditureMy Lords, as someone who is very against the independence movement in Scotland, I would agree. We have also to accept that an increasing amount of revenue is raised in Scotland…20 Jan 2022HANSARDDevolved Governments: Public ExpenditureI thank the noble Lord for his support. Homelessness is one of society’s most complicated problems and we are very committed to trying to minimise it.20 Jan 2022HANSARDDevolved Governments: Public ExpenditureMy noble and learned friend is right that we need to remind Scottish citizens that a great deal of the funding that goes into Scotland comes from here. We now have a Minister for…20 Jan 2022HANSARDDevolved Governments: Public ExpenditureMy Lords, in 2005, the then Labour Government agreed to allow the Scottish Government to have international development involvement. To my knowledge, they are involved in three…20 Jan 2022HANSARDDevolved Governments: Public ExpenditureI think the noble Baroness makes a very good point. I will suggest to the relevant Ministers that the work on the fiscal framework, announced in October, includes a review of the…20 Jan 2022HANSARDMoney LaunderingMy Lords, more than 97,000 organisations are monitored for money laundering in this country and some 54 anti-money laundering inquiries are open with the FCA at the moment.13 Jan 2022HANSARDMoney LaunderingI share the noble Baroness’s concern about money laundering getting into the hands of serious organised crime groups, but we are very much aware of such concerns. I do not think…13 Jan 2022HANSARDMoney LaunderingMy Lords, we have the National Crime Agency as the main crimefighting force in anti-money laundering. It is an extremely effective organisation, and it is well funded. Of course,…13 Jan 2022HANSARDMoney LaunderingMy Lords, as I am sure the noble Lord will be aware, the City of London is one of the largest financial centres in the world and therefore the flows of money going through our…13 Jan 2022