Secretary of State to arrange meeting with MP on use of Proceeds of Crime Act by local authorities as part of planning enforcement

During a debate in the House of Commons last Monday (13 October), Simon Hoare MP said: “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?”

Responding to Hoare’s question, Steve Reed said: “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.”

This comes after two restauranteurs complained that their passports had been confiscated and they had been threatened with a potential £2.5m confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act in a planning dispute with Lewisham Council earlier this month.

A fundraising campaign was set up by the Big Retort on behalf of brothers Ahmet and Sahin Gok to gain “the means to fight an absurd case in court”. It has raised nearly £20,000.

A hearing is scheduled to take place today (24 October).

The dispute began when the Goks, who own the Meze Mangal restaurant, responded to a neighbour’s complaint about smoke and odours from the restaurant by installing a new extraction fan system.

Lewisham said this was done without seeking planning permission and with continued complaints about smoke and smells disturbing surrounding homes.

The Goks applied for planning permission, but their application was refused.

Their fundraising page said the brothers decided to leave the extractor in place as they believed it was more important to maintain good relations with neighbours “than to follow what felt like an unreasonable decision”.

The council said the Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings had arisen because they were found guilty of a criminal offence.

Lottie Winson