# Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025, Section 8: Disposal of property

Extent: E+W

(1) A magistrates’ court may, on an application by the Minister or a person with an interest in relevant property—
(a) order the delivery of the relevant property to the person appearing to the court to be its owner, or
(b) if its owner cannot be ascertained, make any other order about the relevant property.
(2) An order under subsection (1)(a) may include provision for the Minister to make any changes to the relevant property that the court considers necessary for the purpose of avoiding or reducing any risk of the relevant property being used in the commission of an offence.
(3) An order under subsection (1)(b) may not provide for the destruction or disposal of the relevant property before the end of the period of 6 months beginning with the day on which the order is made.
(4) An order under subsection (1)(b) (“the first order”) does not prevent further applications being made for an order under subsection (1) in respect of the relevant property to which the first order applies.
(5) Where an order is made following a further application—
(a) the order may not provide for the destruction or disposal of the relevant property before the end of the period of 6 months beginning with the day on which the first order was made, but
(b) the order may otherwise contain such provision as to the timing of the destruction or disposal of the relevant property as the court thinks fit.
(6) In this section, “relevant property” means tangible property which has come into the possession of the Minister in the course of, or in connection with, the exercise of a function under this Part.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/28/section/8 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/public-authorities-fraud-error-and-recovery-act-2025/section-8
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.