 |
answer text |
<p> </p><p> </p><p>The value of confiscation orders imposed and the amounts outstanding
for those orders, both with and without interest, as at 30 January 2014, for the calendar
years from 2010 onwards, are set out in the Table A below. The volume of orders imposed
and those that remain outstanding is in Table B</p><p><strong>Table A</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Value
of Confiscation Orders Imposed</p></td><td><p>Order Balance Remaining to Collect Excluding
Interest</p><p>As at 30/01/2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>£276,143,735</p></td><td><p>£167,176,784</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>£187,128,205</p></td><td><p>£73,910,472</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>£271,998,720</p></td><td><p>£162,286,156</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>£245,728,131</p></td><td><p>£176,875,895</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>£980,998,791</p></td><td><p>£580,249,307</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Table
B</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Volume of Confiscation
Orders Imposed</p></td><td><p>Volume of Orders with an Order Balance Remaining to
Collect Excluding Interest</p><p>As at 30/01/2014</p></td><td><p>Total Volume of Orders
to Collect Including Interest</p><p>As at 30/01/2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>6,214</p></td><td><p>915</p></td><td><p>2,289</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>6,286</p></td><td><p>1,065</p></td><td><p>2,342</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>6,458</p></td><td><p>1,386</p></td><td><p>2,399</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>6,139</p></td><td><p>2,500</p></td><td><p>3,141</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>25,097</p></td><td><p>5,866</p></td><td><p>10,171</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p>Confiscation orders are one of the key mechanisms available to the Government
to deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crimes. The value of the order imposed,
which is often very high, is based on the criminal benefit attributed to the crime
and may, therefore, exceed the value of realisable assets that are known to the Court
at the time of imposition. Crucially, an outstanding order stops the criminal benefitting
from the proceeds of crime and ensures that, if the assets are discovered in the future,
they can be seized.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and other
enforcement agencies take the issue of recovering criminal assets very seriously and
are working to ensure that clamping down on defaulters is a continued priority nationwide.</p><p>
</p><p>Although, as the Enforcement Authority, HMCTS owns the debt, it is not always
the lead enforcement agency. HMCTS tends to lead on the high volume, low value orders.
Prosecution agencies, including the CPS and the Serious Fraud Office, lead on enforcement
where they have put Restraint Orders on the defendant's property to protect the asset,
or where the professional expertise of an Enforcement Receiver will be required to
enforce the confiscation order.</p><p> </p><p>All outstanding amounts are actively
pursued using a range of enforcement tools open to us. A confiscation order is a life
time order and only amounts up to £50 can be written off. Default sentences of up
to 10 years in prison are activated for non payment. Serving the default sentence
does not cancel the debt and we will continue to pursue the amount owed. Interest
is added to the order balance outstanding at the rate of 8% per annum. The fact that
interest accrues at such a high rate and amounts over £50 cannot be written off, contribute
to the increasing level of debt. At the end of December 2013, the total amount outstanding
was £1.47 billion, of which £372 million was interest alone. At the end of December
2013, including interest £24 million is owed by defendants who are deceased and a
further £86 million is owed by defendants who have been deported. Even for those that
are deported we still try to actively pursue the defendants assets held abroad, but
we rely on the cooperation of overseas enforcement agencies, which is often not forthcoming.
The Agencies responsible for enforcement are building better relationships with overseas
authorities and engage specialist forensic teams to track down hidden assets.</p><p>
</p><p>The amount defendants repaid from their criminal activity across all agencies
reached an all time high during 2012/13, with a total of £133.1 million recovered.
That represented a 7% increase on the £124.1 million recovered during 2011/12. The
total amount recovered has increased for the last four consecutive years and once
again we are on course to have another record breaking year this financial year. For
the 2013/14 financial year, at the end of December 2013, £102.8 million had been recovered,
which is an increase of 2% on the £100.5 million that was collected up to December
2012. Since 2008/09, when £98.8 Million was recovered, the amount collected from criminals
has increased by 35%.</p><p> </p><p>HMCTS is seeking a commercial partner to help
increase collections, reduce enforcement costs and importantly, ensure more criminals
pay. A new national system has been implemented to manage the collection of fixed
penalty notices, with all of the Police Forces having transferred to the new platform
by June 2013.The continuing improvement the Agencies are making combined with our
future plans will ensure that more criminals pay and that taxpayers get better value
for money.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
|
|
