Criminals stripped of £84 million: Kent Police get under £300K

Criminal assets worth a record £84 million have been recovered during the last year. As a result of this, Kent Police receive a share of just £293,697 towards reducing crime locally.

The police service receives one third of receipts recovered in 2004-05 above £40 million. The Home Office receives the first £40 million to pay for existing expenditure commitments on asset recovery. The one third above £40M is divided among individual police forces in proportion to the contribution each force had made to the total value of assets recovered. This is due to increase to half of all receipts recovered above £40 million next year (2005-2006).

Paul Goggins, Home Office Minister for Financial Crime, said:

"The Police and their criminal justice partners are to be congratulated on this excellent achievement. The scheme provides a powerful incentive for all Police forces.

"It encourages forces to make maximum use of the powers available to them to recover criminal assets - the more they recover, the more they will get back under the incentive scheme."

Shepway Liberal Democrat campaigner Tim Prater commented:

"Although the money back to Kent Police is welcome, it is a shame it's only 1/3rd of the money over £40M this year - even half the money above £40M from next year seems stingy. The more money that is returned to local forces, the bigger their incentive to work to recover the proceeds from crime.

"The Liberal Democrats want to see more money released into front line policing - for example, with our General Election pledge not to waste billions on ineffective ID Cards, but rather to spend the money on 10,000 more police on the beat."

The Home Office receives the first £40 million to pay for existing expenditure commitments on asset recovery. The one third above £40M is divided among individual police forces in proportion to the contribution each force had made to the total value of assets recovered.