Strengthening the
Response to Serious and Organised Crime
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
The Government are today launching a consultation on two
proposals to strengthen the law on serious and organised
crime.
Law enforcement agencies frequently encounter articles which they
suspect are being used in serious crime but which they are unable
to act on under existing legislation. The Government are
therefore consulting on a proposal to create new offences to
criminalise the making, modification, supply, offer to supply and
possession of articles for use in serious crime. Such articles
include, for example, vehicle concealments or “hides” used to
transport illicit commodities, sophisticated and bespoke
encrypted communication devices, templates for
3D-printing firearms components, and pill
presses used to make illicit drugs.
The Government are also consulting on proposals to improve and
strengthen the existing powers on serious crime prevention orders
under the Serious Crime Act 2007. This includes enabling a
broader set of law enforcement bodies to apply for such orders,
as well as strengthening their monitoring arrangements.
The consultation seeks views to inform the Government’s policy
development. The consultation will run for eight weeks and will
close on 21 March 2023. If taken forward, both proposals would
require changes in legislation when Parliamentary time
allows.
A copy of the consultation document and two related impact
assessments will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and
are available on [www.gov.uk.](https://www.gov.uk)
The Government are also announcing a package of measures to
strengthen how police forces in England and Wales tackle serious
and organised crime and protect our communities from harm. The
approach is being led jointly by the Home Office and the National
Police Chiefs’ Council’s serious and organised crime lead, with
implementation supported by the Association of Police and Crime
Commissioners, the National Crime Agency, the College of Policing
and the Local Government Association.
We are investing around £2 million to support the roll-out of
“Clear, Hold, Build”, which is an evidence-based, end-to-end
local partnership approach that will reduce serious and organised
crime in the highest harm hotspot areas in England and Wales.
This includes new serious and organised crime community
co-ordinators in the Regional Organised Crime Units to support
police forces to deliver the most effective and efficient
partnership response, and a performance management and
information system to enhance police forces’ ability to
understand, capture and respond to their local serious and
organised crime threat.
Later this year the Government also plan to publish a new
strategy to update the “Serious and Organised Crime Strategy”,
which was published in 2018.
