Section 31 — Seizure of items

Extent: E+W+S

Snapshot: 2026-08-24

Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Amendments made after 2026-08-24 may not be reflected — always check the official text .

(1) This section applies where a person exercises the power of seizure and removal in section 29(1)(d).

(2) The person must, on request by any person appearing to be in charge of the premises—

(a) give a receipt for the thing seized, and

(b) in the case of a document readily capable of being copied, give a copy of it.

(3) The thing seized may be retained in the possession of the Secretary of State for so long as the Secretary of State considers necessary for any of the investigative purposes (irrespective of the purpose for which it was initially obtained).

(4) For any such purpose, a person acting on behalf of the Secretary of State may—

(a) examine the thing seized (using reasonable force if necessary), and

(b) record (in whatever form) any information obtained from the thing seized.

(5) The Secretary of State may, by regulations, make further provision about how the thing seized is to be dealt with.

(6) Such regulations may, in particular—

(a) authorise the retention or use of the thing seized for purposes other than the investigatory purposes;

(b) authorise the delivery of the thing seized to a person other than its owner;