Prime Minister's question asked in the House of Commons, by Linda Gilroy (Labour). It was answered on Wednesday, 14 December 2005 on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Engagements

Question: What more is the Prime Minister prepared to do to help Plymouth police to ensure that drug barons and other hardened criminals are not able to profit from their ill-gotten gains?

Answer: My hon. Friend raises a point on the action that we are taking against those engaged in organised crime. One of the most important powers that the police have is to be able to seize cash that drug dealers, or those suspected of drug dealing, may have on them. We want to lower the minimum amount that people must have on them before they can be subject to that procedure. We have recovered something like £185 million worth of criminal assets over the past three years. In Devon and Cornwall, which is my hon. Friend's area, the police have obtained cash forfeiture and confiscation orders with a value of more than £1 million just in the past year. We will also, however, give incentives to forces to do more of that confiscation work, and they will be able to keep a proportion of the money that they confiscate. Already, about an additional £180,000 has been paid into the funds of Devon and Cornwall as a result, and we want to extend that further. Again, however, I am sorry to say that the shadow Home Secretary opposed those measures when we announced them the other day.

Secondary information