§ Paul FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much is expected to be recovered by the confiscation of assets of drug traffickers in each of the next five years; and if he will estimate the percentage that this will represent of the total value of illegal drug sales. [36560]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe national Asset Recovery Strategy, which I announced on 28 November, sets out the Government's objectives for meeting the challenging financial investigation target of recovering £60 million in receipts from asset recovery orders of all kinds by the 2004–05 financial year, compared with £29.5 million during 1999–2000. This would achieve the Government's objective of doubling the amounts recovered from drug traffickers and other major criminals. We estimate that between a half and two thirds of these receipts will come from drug trafficking cases.
It is not possible to provide a meaningful estimate of the percentage these receipts will represent of the total value of illegal drug sales. What I can say is that the value of such sales is very much greater even than the increased receipts set out in the current target, but that effective 911W application of the new powers in the Proceeds of Crime Bill, including those that will be exercised by the proposed new Assets Recovery Agency, should enable a major increase in the recovery of drug trafficking proceeds. Targets in this field will be reviewed when the strategy has operated for a year, in the light of the outcome of the Bill's passage.
A copy of the strategy is available in the Library.
§ Paul FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of setting up the unit for confiscation of the proceeds of drug trafficking; and what the anticipated annual cost is of running it. [36561]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe Proceeds of Crime Bill, which is shortly to have its Report and Third Reading Stages in the House of Commons, provides inter alia for the setting up of an Assets Recovery Agency. The agency will be empowered to apply for confiscation orders in relation to any category of crime, including drug trafficking.
As I explained in my answer to the hon. Member for Poole (Mr. Syms) on 11 December 2000, Official Report, column 837W. It is currently estimated that the agency will cost £3 million to set up, with running costs of some £13 million per annum. These estimates are subject to revision as planning for the agency progresses.
Based on current assumptions about caseloads and amounts available for recovery, the Government expect that the agency's receipts will exceed its running costs.