Clause 32
Policing and Crime Bill
3:45 pm
Vernon Coaker (Minister of State (Policing, Crime & Security), Home Office; Gedling, Labour)
I am advised that it is the payment of costs. I wish to reiterate that the purpose of the amendment is simply to ensure that the amount paid is the reasonable cost as determined by the magistrates court. It will be for the court to determine what those reasonable costs are; it is not about trying to ensure that somebody profits from the exercise. That judicial oversight is built into the Bill. The provision refers to the payment of an amount that the court will determine as the costs incurred by the law enforcement body in storing the detained property, and as such will encourage that body to do more of this work, knowing that it does not have to incur a cost.