WIREDGOV

£5.5m seized from criminals gives new year cash boost to Police

HOME OFFICE News Release (253/2008) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 2 January 2009

Police forces across England and Wales are to receive a £5.5 million cash boost from assets seized from criminals, the Home Office announced today.
Criminal assets confiscated by police forces and other asset recovery agencies between July and September 2008 totalled £33.53 million, half of which is to be shared between police, prosecutors and courts.

A total of £5.44 million will be given to police forces in England and Wales, compared with £3.71 million paid out in the same quarter last year.
Since the Proceeds of Crime Act came into effect in 2003, £530.5 million has been seized. An incentive scheme introduced in 2006 allows the police and recovery agencies to retain half of all cash they seize from criminals.

Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said:

"This scheme is a great benefit for policing. Taking money from criminals makes crime far less profitable for them. At the same time, that money is ploughed directly back into the police force that seized it so they can use it for their fight against crime in their area.
"Recovering more than £30 million from criminals in the space of three months is a great achievement and I want to thank the police and other partners for their hard work in seizing the money and undermining criminal gangs."

Mick Creedon, Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary and Association of Chief Police Officers lead on Asset Recovery, said:

"The public are quite rightly sick and tired of seeing criminals leading lavish lifestyles without challenge and all forces across England and Wales are determined to respond to this and make full use of the available powers granted under the Proceeds of Crime Act and other legislation.

"We continue to work closely with the Home Office and other asset recovery agencies to ensure that not only crime doesn't pay, but that it is also seen by the public that it doesn't pay."

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. A total of £135.7 million was recovered in the financial year 2007-8, £125.36 million 2006-7, £97.3 million 2005-6, £84 million in 2004-5 and £54.5 million in 2003-4.

2. A total £16.7m will be paid back to the police and other agencies involved in asset recovery including HM Revenue and Customs, Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Assets Recovery Agency, HM Courts Service (HMCS), Office of Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) and the Home Office.
Other major recipients are as follows:

HMCS - £2.56m
CPS - £2.89m
HMRC - £2.65m
SOCA - £1.40m

3. Police, prosecutors and courts receive a share of the receipts on an 18.75/18.75/12.5 per cent basis.

4. Below is a regional breakdown of the incentive payments to the 44 police forces.

      FORCE                            Police incentive allocations for the
                                       period 01/07/2008 to 30/09/2008
      Avon & Somerset Constabulary       £43,877.07
      Bedfordshire Police                £52,297.80
      British Transport Police           £7,325.00
      Cambridgeshire Constabulary        £34,417.82
      Cheshire Constabulary              £65,822.95
      City of London Police              £31,609.65
      Cleveland Police                   £134,986.83
      Cumbria Constabulary               £77,120.40
      Derbyshire Constabulary            £44,402.98
      Devon & Cornwall Constabulary      £56,880.07
      Dorset Police                      £46,638.66
      Durham Constabulary                £27,426.20
      Dyfed-Powys Police                 £35,649.43
      Essex Police                       £50,844.62
      Gloucestershire Constabulary       £66,724.95
      Greater Manchester Police          £382,434.04
      Gwent Police                       £97,603.58
      Hampshire Constabulary             £110,133.10
      Hertfordshire Constabulary         £134,744.92
      Humberside Police                  £73,225.60
      Kent Police                        £120,261.72
      Lancashire Constabulary            £192,402.69
      Leicestershire Constabulary        £112,113.01
      Lincolnshire Police                £13,519.45
      Merseyside Police                  £233,352.05
      Metropolitan Police Service        £1,300,219.98
      Norfolk Constabulary               £39,793.25
      North Wales Police                 £18,696.09
      North Yorkshire Police             £37,032.72
      Northamptonshire Police            £66,453.10
      Northumbria Police                 £100,249.03
      Nottinghamshire Police             £28,744.04
      South Wales Police                 £40,314.18
      South Yorkshire Police             £162,253.56
      Staffordshire Police               £129,891.57
      Suffolk Constabulary               £58,435.20
      Surrey Police                      £16,913.53
      Sussex Police                      £167,371.13
      Thames Valley Police               £150,130.15
      Warwickshire Police                £74,297.19
      West Mercia Constabulary           £20,550.66
      West Midlands Police               £634,597.28
      West Yorkshire Police              £119,382.22
      Wiltshire Constabulary             £25,358.97
      TOTAL                              £5,436,498.44