Figures included in the latest statistical release supersede previous officially reported figures. It should be noted there will be variations in the data recorded for each financial year due to revisions made in retrospection of the live administrative JARD system. COVID restrictions had an impact across the entire law enforcement, criminal justice, and asset recovery systems, adversely impacting on investigation, prosecution and conviction capacity and capability. This release includes data covering the period 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 which is the same period as when COVID-19 restrictions were in place. This release does not include data covering Scotland. This release refers to data covering the financial years from 2015 to 2016 until 2020 to 2021, which is the latest period, and is provided for the jurisdictions of England and Wales, Northern Ireland and those which have no recorded jurisdiction. Links to statistics published by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on the collection of Civil Recovery and Taxation can be found in the Methodology and Quality Report. It also includes statistics on the value of compensation paid to victims, the use of funds by POCA agencies received through the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS) and statistics on International Asset Recovery.
This release contains Official Statistics on the value and volume of proceeds of crime restrained, seized, and recovered through Criminal Confiscations, Forfeitures and Civil Recovery. Links to further information on POCA can be found in the Background Context Note. POCA can be applied through the following powers: Criminal Confiscation, Forfeiture, Civil Recovery and Taxation. It is also used to deprive criminals of their money or other property connected to criminal activity.
The Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) 2002 outlines the statutory framework used to enable the investigation and prosecution of crimes relating to benefit from criminal conduct or crimes relating to property obtained through unlawful conduct or which is intended to be used in unlawful conduct.