Home affairsLetter from Keith Bristow, Director General, National Crime Agency, to the Chair of the Committee, 12 July 2013

I am writing to you in response to your letter dated 1 July 2013 where you requested some information in relation to the National Crime Agency (NCA) and activity against private investigators.

Timetable of Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) Staff—Resources and Responsibilities to the NCA

The NCA will “go-live” on 7 October 2013. The Home Secretary has signalled her wish to see change being effected in advance of then. Since 1 February 2013 SOCA and other pre-cursor elements have systematically moved across into shadow working. Shadow working describes how the NCA can begin to operate in advance of go-live by utilising the resources that will comprise the Agency against the NCA’s expected priorities. It enables the organisational model to begin to be populated and its operating model to be tested internally and externally; effectively stress-testing the prototype to ensure a smooth transition.

The NCA staff matching process has been completed and all officers are being advised where their new role will be within the NCA.

Budget Information

The NCA will be delivered within the budget of its precursor organisations. SOCA’s budget (which includes the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) will form the bulk of the budget for the NCA. For the current financial year (2013–14) SOCA’s delegated budget from the Home Office is £417 million (resource and capital and includes funding for NPIA functions that were transferred to SOCA). From “go-live”, the NCA will organise its budgets to provide focus on the strategic priorities that the Home Secretary will set for it, and will invest in future capability for tackling serious and organised crime. It is too early to set out what these budget breakdowns will be.

Also, the NCA—like SOCA—will be in receipt of other supplementary funding and income streams to support delivery of operations.

SOCA Information on Private Investigators

You have requested a guarantee that none of the information that SOCA holds on private investigators will be lost during the transition to the NCA. On 7 October 2013 all information held by SOCA will pass from SOCA to the NCA. In line the SOCA Director General’s evidence to you on 2 July 2013, SOCA is obligated to comply fully with data protection and Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (CPIA) requirements that dictate how information and evidence is stored and how long it must be held for. I am confident that SOCA complies fully with its obligations as will the NCA following go-live.

NCA Role in Respect of Private Investigators

Intelligence indicates that some private investigators continue to work as the proxies of organised crime groups and there is a continued threat from them to law enforcement operations, information and assets, particularly from those who have knowledge and experience of law enforcement or relevant military covert tactics and techniques and are prepared to exploit these for criminal ends. While this remains the case, the NCA will continue to have a focus on private investigators. This will mean continuing to work with partners to apply a range of measures, such as:

developing intelligence on the threat posed by private investigators, for use by law enforcement and government;

issuing information to enable partners to: take law enforcement action; regulatory action; and take steps to protect themselves; and

pursuing those instances of corrupt private investigators that arise, and providing ongoing support to operations led by others.

The NCA will build on the capabilities of SOCA and offer new opportunities to achieve further results against serious and organised crime, including through more effective tasking and co-ordination.