Home Affairs CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by the National Crime Agency [LSP 18]
LETTER FROM KEITH BRISTOW QPM, DIRECTOR GENERAL, NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY, TO THE CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE, 11 OCTOBER 2012
NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY
Thank you for your invitation to appear before the Committee as part of your “Leadership and Standards in the Police” Inquiry. I look forward to seeing you on 16 October. In the meantime, I am happy to answer your specific questions and provide an update on our progress to create the National Crime Agency.
Work in Progress So Far
Much has been done since I last appeared before you. We are making good progress to set up the Agency, secure early operational results, and ensure wider law enforcement is ready for the NCA becoming fully operational by the end of 2013 (subject, of course, to the passage of the Crime and Courts Bill).
The NCA will be a highly visible agency of operational crime-fighters, protecting the public by cutting serious, organised and complex crime. Recognising that the threat is changing and our response must also evolve, the NCA will have an explicit mandate to lead and task the entire law enforcement response, on the basis of a single, authoritative intelligence picture. Its new approach and broad remit will deliver a step-change in tackling the damage inflicted by organised crime in this country—manifested in street corner drug-dealing; trafficking of men and women into modern-day bondage or prostitution; online sharing of horrific images of sexually abused children; and cyber-enabled scams that deprive people of their life savings.
I am pleased with the progress we are making to stand up a fully operational Agency by the end of next year. The NCA will go after some of the most risky and dangerous people that affect our communities—preventing and disrupting their criminal behaviour, taking their assets and stopping them from harming the public. Key elements of the NCA’s operating model include:
four specialist Commands pulling together to protect the public—Economic Crime, Border Policing, Organised Crime and Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP);
a flexible operational taskforce, to provide the core crime-fighting capability;
a National Cyber Crime Unit, to deliver a more targeted response to the most serious cyber crime, support transformational change in wider law enforcement, and significantly enhance crime-fighting partnership work with industry and the intelligence agencies;
a multi-agency Intelligence Hub, enabling law enforcement to work together to deliver against a compelling and shared picture of the threat; and
an effective set of tasking arrangements, to coordinate the NCA’s and partners’ assets and to target activity against the highest priority criminals.
The Operational Status of the Agency and its Commands and Timetable for bringing the Agency into Operation
As you know, the Crime and Courts Bill will provide the legislative basis for the new Agency. It was introduced in the House of Lords in May and the NCA provisions have completed committee stage. Ministers have been clear, however, that we cannot wait for the formal establishment of the Agency at the end of next year to start to see operational improvements. Early progress is therefore already being driven through a set of “shadow” NCA commands, to better protect communities from the scourge of serious, organised and complex crime.
Under the leadership of its Director David Armond, shadow arrangements for the Border Policing Command are in place, with an initial core of SOCA, police, UK Border Agency and Border Force staff. This will deliver, for the first time, a unified, strategic intelligence picture and operational activity to deliver border security. Similarly, on economic crime, one early joint operation against Eastern European money launderers led to 13 arrests and important follow-up work against more dangerous criminals. Further operational and disruption activity is ongoing, including with international partners on boiler room fraud, and operations against those involved in pensions fraud.
Shadow arrangements for the other Commands, the National Cyber Crime Unit and the NCA’s intelligence functions are also taking shape. The Organised Crime Coordination Centre (which will become part of the NCA’s Intelligence Hub) is up and running and already conducting intelligence work which is making a difference operationally. Its effectiveness is underpinned by a strong multi-agency team, with crime-fighting officers from SOCA, ACPO, HMRC and UKBA. From next month, a shadow Intelligence Hub will begin providing intelligence support to the shadow NCA Commands, and shadow tasking arrangements will test how key operational partnerships will work.
Powers and Pesponsibilities that will be Incorporated in the Agency
In terms of precursor functions, agreement has been reached since my last update to you that the Proceeds of Crime Centre (POCC) will also transition into the NCA from the NPIA by the end of this year (via SOCA). POCC accredits and monitors financial investigators, operates a professional register and provides international training on request.
Current Staffing and Senior Appointments
The NCA will largely comprise officers and staff from SOCA, CEOP and other precursors and I expect it to have in the region of 4,000 officers when it is established (as the NCA’s main precursor, SOCA’s headcount in July 2012 was 3,816). Precise numbers who will transfer to the NCA from other bodies (such as the Police Central eCrime Unit currently in the Metropolitan Police Service) are subject to discussions with the MPS and other bodies and those officers and staff affected.
The Bill also provides for the recruitment of volunteer “NCA Specials”, who will bring additional specialist skills to help tackle some of the most serious and complex criminality impacting on the UK. Over the next year we will continue to develop and finalise the NCA’s workforce, including looking at how we can embed officers and staff from other organisations to maximise the Agency’s crime-fighting strength and expertise.
Key to the effectiveness of the NCA is appointing the right operational leadership, with a proven track record in fighting crime at a senior level. As you know, I took up post at the end of 2011. Since then, David Armond, Trevor Pearce and Peter Davies have been appointed as Directors designate of the Border Policing Command (BPC), Operations, and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP) respectively. Recruitment campaigns for Directors designate of the Organised Crime Command (OCC) and Economic Crime Command (ECC) began in July and we expect to appoint both soon.
Funding Arrangements for the Agency
As we have previously said, SOCA’s budget (including CEOP) will form the bulk of the NCA’s delegated budget. In the first full year of operations (2014–15) that is now expected to be around £403 million (reflecting NPIA functions that have been transferred, or will shortly transfer). Like SOCA, the NCA will also have supplementary funding streams, which fluctuate year on year (around £40 million in 2012–13). We expect these arrangements will continue for the NCA, as will CEOP’s ability to raise and hold funds from donors. As I explained when I last wrote, the NCA budget will continue to develop, as the precursor landscape evolves and delegated budgets are revised.
I welcome the opportunity to provide you with this update on our progress and I look forward to seeing you and the rest of the Committee on 16 October.
Keith Bristow QPM, Director General
National Crime Agency
October 2012