Local authorities obtain 126 confiscation orders in 12 months: research

Local authorities have obtained 126 confiscation orders in the last 12 months and recovered £13.7m, research by the Association of Chief Trading Standards Officers (ACTSO) has revealed.

The Local Government Association said victims of crime had received more than £850,000 of the sum recovered.

According to the LGA, councils to have obtained confiscation orders include:

• Brent & Harrow: the trading standards service has secured 17 confiscation orders worth £1.4m against convicted offenders.
• Haringey Council: a conman selling fake t-shirts was ordered in December 2012 to pay back more than £200,000.
• Norwich City Council: the local authority was the first to use the Proceeds of Crime Act to reclaim £40,000 from a landlord who failed to comply with Houses in Multiple Occupation licence conditions in October 2012.

Cllr Mehboob Khan, Chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: “Criminals selling counterfeit goods, exploiting vulnerable residents or stealing taxpayers’ money through falsely claimed benefits, have a hugely negative impact on communities. 

“The Proceeds of Crime Act is proving to be a valuable tool for councils to use in order to fight back and hopefully it is also acting as a deterrent to criminals.”

Guy Pratt, chairman of ACTSO, which represents heads of local authority trading standards services in England and Wales, said: "I am very pleased to see that councils and their trading standards services in particular are using the powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act to get compensation for victims, and using criminals’ money to reinvest in more enforcement to tackle rogue businesses who make thousands and occasionally millions of pounds from ripping people off.”