MPs slam asset recovery information management

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A botched database, lack of staff tracking system and poor case management has lead to failures in the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA), according to an MP's report.

Edward Leigh, the chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, told MPs that the ARA's information management systems kept the department from being successful.

"The Assets Recovery Agency has done a good job in testing through the courts new powers for recovering the proceeds of crime. The new Serious Organised Crime Agency will be able to use those powers in the future," he said. "But the Assets Recovery Agency has been successful in little else... Far too few cases were ever referred to it, its management information systems were in a mess, it prioritised cases badly and it underestimated the time it would take to pursue them."

The report said that the agency's management information systems do not feature a full database of all cases, or any way to track the time spent on each case by staff members. Because of this, the cost of each case can not be measured.

The agency has spent £65 million since December 2006, but recovered just £23 million.

The ARA is set to be disbanded as early as April 2008, with its caseload passed to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). "The agency and Serious Organised Crime Agency should implement management information systems to provide reliable and easily accessible information on total caseload activity, prioritisation of work, cost of handling cases, productivity of staff and monitoring of case progression," the report said.

Leigh added: "The Serious Organised Crime Agency will have to learn from these mistakes. Otherwise few criminals will suffer sleepless nights worrying about losing the proceeds of their crimes."

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