Speeches by Green.

“It is not lost information.”

“Is that not currently happening?”

“Just to follow up on what you are saying, paragraph 4.8 says that the NAO was told that “if the police look into a potential fraud and decide not to pursue a case criminally, there are no clear mechanisms for other parts of the MoD to continue looking at a case to see if non-criminal routes would be appropriate.” Can y…”

“I want to move us on to triage and how the allegations are triaged at the moment. At the end of paragraph 4.7 of the NAO Report, it states, “different teams are not aware of the criteria or thresholds different parts of the MoD use when deciding to pursue or prioritise a case.” I am keen to understand—this is a questio…”

“How many regional teams are there? You said you do it by area.”

“Thank you. Sorry, Aneen, I think I cut across you as you were trying to say something.”

“What is preventing that from happening at the moment?”

“Forgive me, but on operational independence it seems from the Report that, with a little bit of knowledge, I could fall through the cracks and get away with something that is costing taxpayers a lot of money. Are you confident that will not be the case going forward?”

“How long has it been in place?”

“Do you mind me asking how new that is? Is it already in place?”

“What change would you request to help you to achieve more criminal outcomes? You mentioned that there are seven dedicated staff; is that an area you would request more investment in? The permanent secretary said a great deal about technology earlier, but you talked specifically about the seven team members. Would somet…”

“My question is for Aneen and Simon. The permanent secretary, in his answer to Catherine, said that the Department has a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and economic crime. I am curious to understand why so few investigations result in criminal action or service justice action or, indeed, moneys recovered.”

“Forgive me, but how big is the team we are talking about?”

“With those replans in mind, what was the biggest change to your approach or mindset that you had to make in order to get this programme delivered?”

“Is there anything that either of you wants to add to any of that?”

“Isn’t that the opposite of scope creep? You literally just took stuff out.”

“You have mentioned the replans a few times, and I am keen to learn more about that. Could you explain to the Committee why there needed to be four replans?”

“That is really helpful.”

“15. What steps he plans to take to ensure that new housing developments have adequate access to infrastructure.”

“I am keen to hear what work the Department has under way to ensure that necessary infrastructure is in place. The cumulative effect of lots of smaller developments on the sewerage system and GP provision is the same as the effect of one large development. That is a live issue in Buckinghamshire, where we do not yet hav…”