By Vivienne Russell
30 October 2009
Local authorities have given assurances that new powers to allow them to search for and seize criminal assets will be used proportionately.
Legislative changes due to come into force next week extend the reach of the 2003 Proceeds of Crime Act. Financial investigators employed by local authorities, as well as some quangos, will gain three specific new powers. These will allow them to freeze, subject to a court order, potentially criminal assets; to search for such assets and seize amounts worth more than £1,000; and to execute search warrants.
The changes have raised concerns from police representatives and some legal experts that such powers should be reserved for law enforcement agencies and are being inappropriately extended to other areas of the state.
Paul McKeever, chair of the Police Federation, said the public would ‘want such very intrusive powers to be kept in the hands of warranted officers and other law enforcement bodies which are vetted to a very high standard rather than given to local councils’.
But the Local Government Association said councils would not abuse their powers. An LGA spokesman told Public Finance: ‘If a benefit cheat or a rogue trader has ripped off the taxpayer to buy themselves a new car or a plasma screen TV, it is right that authorities can confiscate these ill-gotten gains.
‘Every time a council seizes assets using the Proceeds of Crime Act, it has to get a court order to do so, and it goes without saying that the use of these powers must be sensible and proportionate.’
The Home Office added: ‘Accredited financial investigators have played an integral role in the recovery of criminal assets since the Proceeds of Crime Act was introduced in 2003.
‘By giving them some new powers we are extending the fight against crime and freeing up valuable police time.’
30 October 2009
Local authorities have given assurances that new powers to allow them to search for and seize criminal assets will be used proportionately.
Legislative changes due to come into force next week extend the reach of the 2003 Proceeds of Crime Act. Financial investigators employed by local authorities, as well as some quangos, will gain three specific new powers. These will allow them to freeze, subject to a court order, potentially criminal assets; to search for such assets and seize amounts worth more than £1,000; and to execute search warrants.
The changes have raised concerns from police representatives and some legal experts that such powers should be reserved for law enforcement agencies and are being inappropriately extended to other areas of the state.
Paul McKeever, chair of the Police Federation, said the public would ‘want such very intrusive powers to be kept in the hands of warranted officers and other law enforcement bodies which are vetted to a very high standard rather than given to local councils’.
But the Local Government Association said councils would not abuse their powers. An LGA spokesman told Public Finance: ‘If a benefit cheat or a rogue trader has ripped off the taxpayer to buy themselves a new car or a plasma screen TV, it is right that authorities can confiscate these ill-gotten gains.
‘Every time a council seizes assets using the Proceeds of Crime Act, it has to get a court order to do so, and it goes without saying that the use of these powers must be sensible and proportionate.’
The Home Office added: ‘Accredited financial investigators have played an integral role in the recovery of criminal assets since the Proceeds of Crime Act was introduced in 2003.
‘By giving them some new powers we are extending the fight against crime and freeing up valuable police time.’
