'˜Spectacular' failure to clamp down on cash owed by criminals

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee claim opportunities to seize offenders’ proceeds are still being missed two years after the regime came under fire in a previous report.

They warn that just £190m of a £1.9bn debt is seen as “realistically collectable” - and say it sends the message that crime pays.

The PAC’s report says the number of confiscation orders imposed by courts has fallen “from an unsatisfactory 6,392 in 2012-13 to 5,839 in 2015-16 when over a hundred times as many offenders were convicted of a crime”.

Confiscation orders are against convicted offenders and can be applied to any offence resulting in financial gain, with the amount based on “criminal benefit”.

This is defined either in terms of a specific crime, or based on a judgment that the individual has lived a criminal lifestyle.

Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the committee, said: “Two years have passed since the Government committed to address PAC’s serious concerns about confiscation orders.

“It has failed to do so in spectacular fashion. The number of orders imposed has fallen and, according to unaudited figures provided by the Home Office, only a tenth of the huge debt owed under such orders is realistically collectable.

“This sends an appalling message to criminals who stand to benefit from crime - and, equally importantly, to their victims and taxpayers.

“Such relatively meagre returns do nothing to alleviate public concerns about crime, nor to encourage the perception that justice is being done.”

The PAC’s report said the amount owed by criminals continues to increase, with total outstanding debts standing at £1.91 billion at the end of March - a rise of £450 million, or 30 per cent, since January 2014.

For high value orders over £1m, enforcement rates are only 22 per cent, which is “too low”, the report said.

However, some progress was noted. Enforcement agencies have made “some improvements” and confiscated £42m more in 2015/16 than three years earlier.

The previous PAC made six recommendations to improve the system in 2014 but the current committee rejected a Home Office assertion that five have been implemented, saying: “We are disappointed by the lack of progress in improving the system.”

A drop in numbers of experienced financial investigators risks weakening enforcement of orders, the report warned.

The committee also concluded that it is not clear whether disrupting crime or collecting criminals’ assets is the primary objective of confiscation orders.

It made a number of new recommendations, calling on the Home Office to do more to explain why so much of the accumulated debt is unlikely to be collected and set out how it is tackling uncollected debt.

Ms Hillier added: “This vague approach to spending public money is unacceptable and must be addressed by the Home Office urgently.”

Labour MP for the Don Valley, Caroline Flint, who sits on the committee, said: “