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Communities blighted by crime should receive 100 per cent of the assets and cash seized from criminals targeting their local areas, councils said recently.

Councils help recover an estimated £40 million in cash and assets fraudulently stolen by benefit fraudsters and rogue traders using powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 every year.

This money helps fund support and compensation for victims, crime prevention initiatives and further trading standards investigations into fraudsters and counterfeit goods. It also goes towards improving local areas and has paid for park regeneration schemes, anti-graffiti projects and youth clubs.

Currently, councils are given back less than half of the assets they recover from convicted criminals with the Government keeping the rest.

The Government is strengthening Proceeds of Crime Act powers under the Serious Crime Bill – which returns to the Lords this month. It will tighten deadlines for criminals to pay up, increase prison sentences for those failing to do so and ensure criminal assets cannot be hidden with friends or spouses.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales, is calling for communities affected by crime to deservedly keep all cash and assets recovered.

Cllr Ann Lucas OBE, Chair of the LGA's Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: "Councils are successfully using Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) powers to recover every penny possible from benefit fraudsters, rogue traders and con-artists trying to thrive off their ill-gotten gains by living in large homes, driving expensive cars or living luxurious lifestyles.

"It is local communities who suffer at the hands of these criminals and they are the only ones who rightly deserve to benefit from the illegal profits being clawed back from criminals targeting their areas.

"That is why it is wrong for the Government to be keeping any of this money and preventing councils from spending it on improving the lives of local people.

"The millions our neighbourhoods are losing out on each year would help councils pay for more victim support and crime prevention schemes. With trading standards budgets reduced by 40 per cent since 2010, this money would also be vital in helping fund further local criminal investigations and prosecutions."

Case studies

• A lengthy investigation by Southwark Council helped recover £106,000 from a woman jailed for using 30 bank accounts to steal benefits over a decade. The council received just £39,000 of money linked to her criminal actitivy with the Treasury and court service keeping the rest.

• Dorset County Council received £4,500 from £12,000 recovered following the prosecution of a local supplier of counterfeit handbags. The council used the cash to raise awareness of doorstep crime by leafleting and providing advice to 5,000 homes deemed to be most at risk.

• A fraudster involved in a mass junk mail scam has been ordered to pay £3 million under POCA. Bedford Council will receive £562,000 to spend on local apprenticeships and funding future fraud investigations.

Notes to editors

1. From April 2013 to March 2014, more than £61 million in cash was seized by law enforcement agencies – including the police and councils – in England and Wales under POCA powers 
2. A poll of a third of councils by the Association of Chief Trading Standards Officers found councils ordered £13.7 million to be recovered from criminals in 2013 estimating this would rise to £40 million nationally. 
LGA press release
3. Once criminal proceedings against an individual are completed, council investigators can request permission from the court to audit their finances, inspect bank accounts, property records and business finances. This information is used to calculate how much the person has gained from their illegal activity and, once an amount repayable is accepted by the court, the criminal is usually given six months to repay the full amount.
4. The Serious Crime Bill returns to the House of Lords on 14 October 2014.

Contact

Greg Burns, Senior Media Relations Officer
Local Government Association
Telephone: 020 7664 3184
Media Office (out-of-hours contact): 020 7664 3333
Email: greg.burns@local.gov.uk
Local Government House, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZ

www.local.gov.uk