Part 1: Proceeds of crime Other miscellaneous provisions Section 34: Confiscation orders and civil recovery: minor amendments
Section 34 makes minor amendments to sections 82, 148, 230, 245D, 290, 297A, 302 and 306 of POCA and section 8 of the Serious Crime Act 2015. The definition of "free property" in sections 82, 148 and 230 of POCA is extended to include cash which is detained pending the hearing of a forfeiture application. Free property can be taken into account when calculating the "available amount" for satisfying a confiscation order. It is any property that is not already subject to certain kinds of forfeiture and deprivation orders – property already subject to one of those orders in earlier proceedings cannot then be taken into account for the purposes of confiscation proceedings because it is not "available" and is accounted for elsewhere.
	The amendments also update POCA to ensure that it is consistent with legislative changes to the concept of "distress", and extend the list of situations whereby mixed property – i.e. criminal property mixed with "clean" property – can be recovered. The non-exhaustive list in section 306 now includes property that has been used to redeem a mortgage.
	The amendments also extend the provisions in the Serious Crime Act 2015 that allow for the writing-off of orders to include orders made under the Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986.