Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Attorney General, how many tip-offs were made to the Serious Fraud Office tip-off line in each year since 2010.

Jeremy Wright

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) launched its dedicated reporting channel on 1 November 2011. The service was intended to encourage reports of serious or complex fraud by whistleblowers and accepted referrals by post, email and telephone. The SFO decided to close the telephone element of the service on 12 June 2012 because a disproportionate amount of staff time was being spent dealing with telephone calls that did not contribute to this aim.

The total number of calls, emails and other referrals through the channel in each year since it was established is shown in the table below. These figures may include multiple reports from single individuals, or multiple referrals about the same matter received from different individuals. Referrals made through the dedicated reporting channel in November and December 2011 were not counted separately from other referrals to the SFO in those months.

The SFO now offers guidance on its website as to how the public may best report any information it may have about fraud to the most appropriate law enforcement authority, including Action Fraud, which is the UK’s central reporting mechanism for fraud and cyber crime.

The SFO continues to receive and assess reports from the public sent directly to it via the online reporting tool, by email or post, or referred to it by other law enforcement and regulatory bodies.