§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which organisations, and at which level, will be able to bid for sums from the Recovered Assets Incentive Fund; whether bids will be permitted direct from(a) police operational command units and (b) local crime and disorder partnerships; against what criteria bids will be assessed; what amount he expects to be available under the Fund in (i) this and (ii) the next financial year; and if he will make a statement. [133906]
§ Caroline FlintThe Recovered Assets Incentive Fund was set up this financial year to incentivise asset recovery by asset recovery agencies including law enforcement and prosecuting authorities. £15.5 million a year for three years has been allocated to the Fund. The funds have been fully committed over the next three years to projects agreed by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and others, that will increase the confiscation of criminal assets. The fund is not open to bids from other organisations or partnerships.
Of £46.5 million that will be available under the Fund over the next three years, up to £38 million will be spent on funding an ACPO proposal to set up an additional four multi-agency regional asset recovery teams to disrupt organised crime groups and to confiscate criminal assets. The teams will comprise staff from the police, National Crime Squad, Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, National Criminal Intelligence Service, Crown Prosecution Service, Assets Recovery Agency and Inland Revenue. The balance of the Fund will be spent on asset recovery projects managed respectively by the Crown Prosecution Service, the Department for Constitutional Affairs, and the Assets Recovery Agency.
An additional £7 million a year for three years has been made available separately from the Recovered Assets Incentive Fund for community projects. This year £4 million has been allocated to the Adventure Capital Fund to regenerate communities. The Adventure Capital Fund Round 2 is open to applications from community-based organisations operating anywhere in England, which are engaged in specified areas of activity including crime reduction and drug prevention, and which are seeking to achieve sustainability through enterprise, while investing surpluses for community benefit. The Adventure Capital fund is not open to bids from other organisations or partnerships.
£1.5 million has been allocated to anti-gun crime initiatives. £1.2 million of this is being disbursed by eight of the regional government offices to projects that will help local communities in the most affected areas in tackling gun crime and gun culture. The money has now been allocated and is not open to bids. £300,000 is being used to support the Disarm Trust, and it is open to projects working to tackle gun crime in local communities to seek support or funding from the Trust. 370W A further £1.5 million has been allocated to regional government offices to fund capacity building in crime and disorder reduction partnerships.
Of the £7 million available for next year, £3 million has been committed to fund community justice centre pilot schemes. The balance of £4 million is not yet committed but there are no plans to invite specific bids.