The use of most investigatory Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) powers is not tracked by the Home Office on a case-by-case basis. Confiscation orders are tracked by the Joint Asset Recovery Database, although it does not record grooming offences separately. However, 114 confiscation orders have been issued in human trafficking cases from 2019 to 2025, with a total value in excess of £5.2 million.

The Crime and Policing Bill will add child criminal exploitation to the POCA Schedule 2 offences that a court must consider when determining whether a defendant has a criminal lifestyle and when calculating the defendant’s criminal benefit. This is alongside the people trafficking, prostitution, and child sex offences already included in Schedule 2. In this way, POCA ensures the courts take a broad view of the criminal benefit that has accrued from these heinous offences when setting the level of confiscation orders.

The figures provided above are a subset of the asset recovery statistics Annex A, referring to assets restrained and recovered from modern slavery offences. Please refer to the User guide to Asset recovery statistics - GOV.UK for further information on how to use these statistics

Individual public bodies participating in the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme are responsible for record-keeping of any unspent funds returned to the Consolidated Fund. As such, HM Treasury does not collate this information.

The hon. Gentleman has raised an important point, and I am happy to arrange a meeting with the appropriate Minister so that he can share his concerns and we can come to a resolution.

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 was never intended to be used by local authorities as an addendum to planning enforcement. The Secretary of State may well have seen recent media reports about this issue. Will he undertake to look into it and to issue guidance to local authorities, explaining that while they have many tools at their disposal, the Proceeds of Crime Act is not one of them?

The NCA has several well-established powers under Part 8 (investigations) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which they may use to compel information during an investigation including production orders, customer information orders and disclosure orders. These allow relevant law enforcement agencies to obtain information on property, individuals and customer details in support of investigations.

The use of these powers remains an operational decision which will be taken on a case by case basis by the relevant law enforcement body and the Home Office does not hold central data on the extent of their use.

Modern slavery is a barbaric crime that dehumanises people for profit. The Government is committed to tackling it in all its forms and continues to work closely with law enforcement agencies and prosecution services to strengthen the operational response, to ensure we use every tool to pursue perpetrators and that victims are supported to recover from this horrendous abuse.

The Home Office Bulletin on Asset Recovery enables us to review how the powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 are being utilised by law enforcement in modern slavery cases.

The value obtained from orders in modern slavery cases can fluctuate depending on the specifics of each case and the criminal proceeds involved. There has been a consistent upward trend in the imposition of confiscation orders since the financial year 2021, however, we recognise more can be done to disrupt criminal enterprises and support victims of modern slavery through compensation.

That is why a key part of the Government’s work with the police and criminal justice partners is to encourage the use of financial investigations at the earliest opportunity in modern slavery cases. Through the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit (MSOIC), funded by the Home Office, guidance and training has been delivered to forces to both enhance understanding of modern slavery among financial investigators, and to support Senior Investigating Officers’ use of financial investigation techniques.

Alongside this work, the National Crime Agency is also working with the banking sector through the Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce to identify red flags in financial transactions and alert these to the authorities.

During Anti-Slavery week last October, the Safeguarding Minister hosted roundtables with law enforcement agencies, criminal justice partners and Non-Government Organisations to get a better shared understanding of the criminal justice challenges. Over the next year, the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit will lead work to develop a national framework for the investigation of modern slavery, to support police forces to secure better criminal justice outcomes, including through increased use of asset recovery powers.

Modern slavery is a barbaric crime that dehumanises people for profit. The Government is committed to tackling it in all its forms and continues to work closely with law enforcement agencies and prosecution services to strengthen the operational response, to ensure we use every tool to pursue perpetrators and that victims are supported to recover from this horrendous abuse.

The Home Office Bulletin on Asset Recovery enables us to review how the powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 are being utilised by law enforcement in modern slavery cases.

The value obtained from orders in modern slavery cases can fluctuate depending on the specifics of each case and the criminal proceeds involved. There has been a consistent upward trend in the imposition of confiscation orders since the financial year 2021, however, we recognise more can be done to disrupt criminal enterprises and support victims of modern slavery through compensation.

That is why a key part of the Government’s work with the police and criminal justice partners is to encourage the use of financial investigations at the earliest opportunity in modern slavery cases. Through the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit (MSOIC), funded by the Home Office, guidance and training has been delivered to forces to both enhance understanding of modern slavery among financial investigators, and to support Senior Investigating Officers’ use of financial investigation techniques.

Alongside this work, the National Crime Agency is also working with the banking sector through the Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce to identify red flags in financial transactions and alert these to the authorities.

During Anti-Slavery week last October, the Safeguarding Minister hosted roundtables with law enforcement agencies, criminal justice partners and Non-Government Organisations to get a better shared understanding of the criminal justice challenges. Over the next year, the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit will lead work to develop a national framework for the investigation of modern slavery, to support police forces to secure better criminal justice outcomes, including through increased use of asset recovery powers.

Modern slavery is a barbaric crime that dehumanises people for profit. The Government is committed to tackling it in all its forms and continues to work closely with law enforcement agencies and prosecution services to strengthen the operational response, to ensure we use every tool to pursue perpetrators and that victims are supported to recover from this horrendous abuse.

The Home Office Bulletin on Asset Recovery enables us to review how the powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 are being utilised by law enforcement in modern slavery cases.

The value obtained from orders in modern slavery cases can fluctuate depending on the specifics of each case and the criminal proceeds involved. There has been a consistent upward trend in the imposition of confiscation orders since the financial year 2021, however, we recognise more can be done to disrupt criminal enterprises and support victims of modern slavery through compensation.

That is why a key part of the Government’s work with the police and criminal justice partners is to encourage the use of financial investigations at the earliest opportunity in modern slavery cases. Through the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit (MSOIC), funded by the Home Office, guidance and training has been delivered to forces to both enhance understanding of modern slavery among financial investigators, and to support Senior Investigating Officers’ use of financial investigation techniques.

Alongside this work, the National Crime Agency is also working with the banking sector through the Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce to identify red flags in financial transactions and alert these to the authorities.

During Anti-Slavery week last October, the Safeguarding Minister hosted roundtables with law enforcement agencies, criminal justice partners and Non-Government Organisations to get a better shared understanding of the criminal justice challenges. Over the next year, the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit will lead work to develop a national framework for the investigation of modern slavery, to support police forces to secure better criminal justice outcomes, including through increased use of asset recovery powers.

The Department for Work and Pensions uses the Proceeds of Crime Act to apply to the courts to recover assets following criminal prosecutions. In Great Britian in total there have been 174 cases in the last 5 years which resulted in a confiscation order from the courts following conviction. Below is the breakdown of the number of cases by year:

2020/21 - 64

2021/22 - 39

2022/23 - 20

2023/24 - 22

2024/25 - 29

Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

The number of companies and public bodies prosecuted for the principal offence of money laundering under POCA 2002 has fluctuated between 1 and 5 each year between the year ending June 2019 and the year ending June 2024.

The number of companies and public bodies convicted for the principal offence of money laundering under POCA 2002 has fluctuated between 0 and 5 each year between the year ending June 2019 and the year ending June 2024.

To note, a small proportion of defendant types are also recorded as ‘unknown’ each year (not included in figures in table).

Source: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2024 - GOV.UK