§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the financial benefits from the confiscation of criminals' assets are apportioned between police forces which seize the assets and the Treasury; and how this apportionment will change under the Government's legislative proposals. (2350]
278W
§ Mr. DenhamUnder the Confiscated Assets Fund (CAF), which the Government established on a non-statutory basis in April 1999, a proportion of receipts from confiscation orders made against persons convicted of drug trafficking is recycled into projects in support of the Anti-Drugs Strategy. Projects funded by the CAF cover all four strands of the strategy including law enforcement projects.
The Government intend to replace the CAF with a new Recovered Assets Fund. This is to be financed by up to 50 per cent. of all confiscation, cash forfeiture and (assuming enactment of the Proceeds of Crime Bill) civil recovery receipts. Both drug trafficking and non-drug trafficking receipts will be included. The fund, which will again operate on a non-statutory basis, will be used primarily to support the Anti-Drugs and Asset Recovery Strategies. It will also provide additional funding for community regeneration and local crime reduction projects.