Yorkshire loses out as crooks stripped of assets

Drug dealers, fraudsters, robbers and rogue traders are among the hundreds of offenders who have been hit by court confiscation orders since April last year.

But, although the majority of their victims live in Yorkshire, only half the money they repay will stay in the region, with the rest going straight to the Treasury.

Yorkshire’s police forces, who must save £200m over four years because of Government cuts, are entitled to less than one-fifth.

West Yorkshire Deputy Chief Constable David Crompton, whose force has secured court orders totalling more than £12m this year, has raised the issue with Home Secretary Theresa May.

He said: “I asked her specifically about the 50 per cent that goes to the Treasury and making more of that available to local communities. If you take 50 per cent for the Treasury, in a manner of speaking that works its way back through the system. But more broadly speaking, whatever is seized in the Yorkshire region, or in West Yorkshire in particular, is lost by that community.”

Mr Crompton, who formally takes over as the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire next month, said offering a bigger share would give forces a greater incentive to recover money from criminals.

At present police keep about 18 per cent of the assets they seize, with HM Courts Service and the Crown Prosecution Service sharing what is left after the Treasury has taken its slice.

Mr Crompton said: “It funds further activity in the force, but we have found some quite considerable sums to put back into community projects. It is like Robin Hood in reverse – we are taking money off the criminals and giving it back to the community.”

Confiscation and forfeiture orders totalling almost £3m have been secured by South Yorkshire Police so far this year.

The region’s other forces, North Yorkshire and Humberside, have each obtained orders totalling more than £1m.

Many financial investigations are conducted by a regional asset recovery team, which has secured orders worth about £5.2m this year, up from £2.3m in 2010-11.

West Yorkshire’s figure of more than £12m, which includes almost £3m obtained by the regional team, is three times higher than the force’s performance in 2008.

The force has also frozen an extra £37m of assets owned by suspects pending ongoing investigations.

Mr Crompton said the approach was an effective way of disrupting organised criminals.

“The Proceeds of Crime Act gives us opportunities where we might struggle with other types of legislation,” he said. “For example, there are some very grown-up conversations when we look at some of our difficult criminals.

“We might know, through very good intelligence, that they are involved in robbery, drug dealing, prostitution, but pinning down that substantial criminal charge can be difficult.

“If you follow the money instead, sometimes that can provide you with far more opportunities.”

Liberal Democrat MP for Bradford East David Ward supported the call to give police a greater share of the assets. “When police deliver benefits by cracking down on drug barons and other criminals, they should be able to invest more with additional funds and they should be able to release more of the proceeds into local initiatives,” he said.

The Home Office was unable to comment.