National Crime Officers Association
2014 – 2015 NCARRB Submission
January 2014
Table of Contents
Page
Introduction
2
1. Operational Role of NCA Officers
5
2. Impact of Crime and Courts Act 2013 on officers with powers
11
3. Need to recruit, retain and motivate qualified NCA officers
12
4. Legal obligations on NCA officers
14
5. Pay Submission 2014
16
6. Summary
18
Appendices
A. Role Profiles
B. Autumn 2013 NCA/Civil Service People survey
C. Current Pay Scales
1
Introduction
About the National Crime Agency (“NCA”):
The NCA was launched in October 2013 as the successor to the Serious and
Organised Crime Agency (“SOCA”). Its core mission is “to fight and cut serious and
organised criminality”1.
That core mission is similar to that of SOCA. However, last year’s launch
represented far more than a simple change of acronym. According to The Daily
Telegraph,
“The vast majority of the NCA’s work will be what SOCA did already – illegal
immigration, drug trafficking, slavery, cyber-crime and child sex exploitation. But
there is a crucial difference in its powers: its first director-general Keith Bristow will be
able to insist that top officers do his bidding, which will make him the most powerful
police officer in the land. So while this might look like a simple rebranding exercise, in
fact it marks a fundamental change to the way policing has been carried out in this
country for more than 170 years.”2
About the National Crime Officers Association (“NCOA”):
The NCOA is a bespoke Trade Union. Each of our members is a member of the
NCA, and approximately 1000 of our members are “officers with powers”.
About this submission:
This submission is made on behalf of NCOA “officers with powers” currently serving
with the NCA.
Under section 10(1) of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, the Director General may
designate any NCA officer as having one or more of the following—
(a)
The powers and privileges of a constable;
(b)
The powers of an officer of Revenue and Customs;
(c)
The powers of an immigration officer.
1
2
See paragraph 2.1.8 of the NCA Blueprint
The Daily Telegraph, 7th October 2013
2
Those powers can only be bestowed on an officer if the Director General is satisfied
that the officer—
(a)
is capable of effectively exercising those powers;
(b)
Has received adequate training in respect of the exercise of those powers;
and
Is otherwise a suitable person to exercise those powers3.
(c)
An NCA officer with powers is in a unique position. Trusted not only with the
triumvirate of powers - of a constable, of a customs officer, and of an immigration
officer – but trained in the effective and suitable use of those powers.
NCA officers with powers are committed, driven and skilled personnel who come to
work to target and tackle:










Class A Drug trafficking
Firearms and their use by organised crime gangs
Kidnap and extortion
Organised serious crime
People smuggling
Money laundering
Child Sexual Exploitation
Counterfeit currency
Fraud
Intellectual property crime
These officers are at the very forefront of the battle against serious and organised
crime, and are frequently placed in dangerous and difficult situations. The abilities
required by them and the trust reposed in them is enormous, and their effectiveness
was recently and graphically demonstrated in the smashing of a paedophile ring in
the Philippines that was reported internationally on 16th January 20144.
However, this submission seeks to emphasise not only the contribution made by
these officers, but also to demonstrate the business case on their behalf. In
particular, we hope to show:
 The unique role of NCA officers and the environment in which they operate
 The impact of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 and the ensuing cultural shift
 The importance of fair pay in the recruitment, retention and motivation of NCA
officers
 The legal obligations on the NCA
 Why a pay rise of between 2% and 2.5% would be appropriate, fair and
reasonable
3
4
Section 10(2) Crime and Courts Act 2013
See, for instance, the BBC report at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25749326
3
NCA officers are unique. They operate in 44 countries, in addition to working
agreements and information sharing with up to 100 more. They are dedicated and
extremely able, and operate in a huge variety of environments with all the
consequent risks.
Yet nearly all staff over the last five years has seen a three year pay freeze followed
by two years with pay rises of no more than 1%. A ‘no strike’ provision within the
Crime and Courts Act has caused an enormous cultural change for many.
We hope to demonstrate through this document and our oral submissions that a
reasonable pay rise is fair and justified, and important to the continuing success of
the NCA.
4
Section 1: Operational Role of NCA officers
All NCA officers operate solely to protect the public. There is nevertheless huge
diversity within the roles and responsibilities of NCA officers with powers.
All operational officers are required to demonstrate that they can achieve the
requirements of the generic role, and will in addition develop bespoke skills that need
to be demonstrated and achieved constantly throughout their time in post.
Operations Officer (Generic)
The responsibilities of the generic operational role are to:









Participate in operations, investigations, projects and prevention initiatives to
include researching data systems, analysing behavioural themes and
providing information and reports, in order to build knowledge of serious and
organised crime to support achievement of National Crime Agency (NCA)
objectives
Provide advice on legislation, policy, research and tactical options to assist in
the planning and implementation of investigations, operations and prevention
initiatives
Analyse specific crimes
Advise investigation officers on analysis performed and significance of
behavioural characteristics exhibited by offenders
Provide tactical and strategic support to the NCA by gathering and analysing
intelligence and evidence
Develop target profiles
Ensure quality, secure handling and dissemination of intelligence.
Carry out effective case management.
Build good working relationships with internal/external partners and police
forces.
All the above require a minimum of SC or DV security clearance and training in post
which will cover:











Investigator programme
Cross powers training / exam
Intelligence training
Staff safety training
Driver training
Surveillance training
Financial accreditation (as required)
Covert/technical surveillance training(as required)
Psychological Operations planning (as required)
Health & safety training
First aid training
5
Role of NCA officers with powers
A simple reading of the above responsibilities and required training cannot come
close to portraying the full picture. Police, Customs and Immigration officers all
perform some of the tasks of an NCA officer. Only the NCA officers, though, can
perform all of the roles in their protection of the public. An NCA officer with powers
can be deployed to operate within many varied and specialist fields of crime
investigation making them different from every other law enforcement agency/
activity.
The structure of the NCA
There are, in effect, five commands of the NCA:





Organised Crime
Border Policing
Economic Crime
National Cyber Crime Unit
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
Organised Crime Command (“OCC”)
Officers with powers operate more within the OCC than any other division.
The OCC has its traditional activity of effecting arrests and collating evidence to
support prosecutions. Its officers now however increasingly work with a broader set
of public, private and third sector professionals to disrupt serious organised
criminals, their associates, business endeavours and their way of life. The result of
our members’ shared endeavours with partners makes a significant impact on
serious and organised crime.
Our OCC officers work closely with public bodies and private industry to identify
vulnerabilities and to act accordingly. Intelligence and information sharing is
essential to this work.
The OCC engages strategically and tactically to build specialist knowledge, enhance
its capability and effectiveness, and to cut crime and protect the public.
6
Border Policing Command (“BPC”)
The BPC is responsible for border security, and its officers tackle serious, organised
and complex crime threats before they reach the UK. Together with the OCC they
coordinate and support the investigation of cross-border serious organised crime.
This includes UK Border Force seizures of drugs, firearms and cash, and other
imports of prohibited and restricted goods.
The majority of the BPC’s officers are with powers, and they include officers based
permanently at UK ports and airports as well as 120 international liaison officers
covering over 150 countries. The BPC protects the public by:



Strengthening the UK border and disrupting criminals before they reach the
UK
Working closely with public and private sector partners to reduce the
vulnerabilities in border security that criminals currently exploit
Providing specialist knowledge and expertise of the overseas and border
landscape to assist the NCA and partner operations
Economic Crime Command (“ECC”)
Economic crime covers a range of crimes including Fraud, Intellectual Property
Crime, Identity Crime and Counterfeit Currency crime. These crimes cost the UK
millions of pounds each year, and prey on the most vulnerable members of society.
ECC officers with powers attack the finances of organised crime across regional,
national and international borders and use their full powers to detect, investigate and
disrupt criminality at the earliest possible stage, prosecuting those responsible and
recovering assets.
National Cyber Crime Unit (“NCCU”)
The NCCU has brought together specialists from the Metropolitan Police Central eCrime Unit and bespoke NCA Cyber-crime officers with powers to create expert
technical, tactical intelligence and investigation teams. It has the capability to
respond in fast time to rapidly changing threats and collaborates with partners to
reduce cyber and cyber-enabled crime by:



Providing a powerful and highly visible investigative response to the most
serious incidents of cyber-crime both nationally and internationally
Working proactively to target criminal vulnerabilities and prevent criminal
opportunities including conducting lifestyle offender management.
Driving forward the UK’s overall capability to tackle cyber and cyber enabled
crime, supporting partners in industry and law enforcement to protect
themselves better against the threat from cyber-crime.
7
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (“CEOP”)
NCA officers with powers working in CEOP pursue those who sexually exploit and
abuse children. Their work prevents people becoming involved in child sexual
exploitation, protects children from becoming victims of sexual exploitation and
sexual abuse, and prepares interventions to reduce the impact of child sexual
exploitation and abuse through safeguarding and child protection work.
The CEOP activity is underpinned by specialist teams in the CEOP command, and
those officers described in the other commands above, across the whole agency.
This includes disrupting offenders and disseminating intelligence to international
forces and specifically targeting offenders while they remain overseas. It includes
non UK nationals who travel to the UK.
Case Studies
All of the above commands require support from specialised units both home and
abroad.
That support is provided by NCA officers with powers. It is impossible to list the roles
of all the officers who provide that support, but some indication of the variety of skills
required can be found in the following role profiles (each profile appended to this
submission).




International Liaison
Humint officer
Firearms officer
Undercover officer
Short case studies on some of the above will be provided as part of the NCOA
submission to the NCARRB panel on the 5th March.
Role with police forces, PCCs and in Devolved Administrations.
NCA officers with powers utilise a system of Organised Crime Group Mapping to
establish a strategic oversight of individuals and groups and ensuring an appropriate
response to a particular threat at a local, regional and national level. They are able to
do this by working with the strategic governance and threat group activities to
develop strategic action plans focusing on the five threat themes of Drugs (UK and
International); Firearms; Organised Acquisitive Crime; Organised Immigration Crime;
and Prisons and Lifetime Offender Management.
Collaborating and working with partners in the police, law enforcement and the wider
community enables a build-up of knowledge and expertise around serious and
organised crime. This includes embedding a senior NCA OCC officer in each
Regional Organised Crime Unit.
8
Effectiveness of NCA operations
The various roles and skills identified above demonstrate the unique nature of the
NCA and the demands placed upon its officers. Any agency that is concerned with
the fight against crime will be judged on results, and in the short time since the
launch of the NCA there have been a significant number of successful and high
profile operations. The following represent merely a snapshot:

In December 2013 following an NCA operation, seven members of an
Albanian crime gang who ran a drug distribution network in London were
sentenced to a total of 73 years in prison. Passing sentence, Mr Justice Rook
commended officers on the presentation of the telephone evidence,
describing it as “a truly impressive document, meticulously prepared”. The
street value of the cocaine seized was around £1.6 million.

In December 2013 a lorry driver for a superbike team was jailed for 18 years
after being found guilty of attempting to smuggle drugs, a gun and dozens of
rounds of ammunition into the UK in a team vehicle. An operation by BPC
officers resulted in the seizing of six kilos of cocaine, 68 kilos of cannabis
resin, 35 kilos of herbal cannabis and 30 kilos of ecstasy tablets concealed in
a number of bags and boxes hidden in a seating area. Officers also recovered
a Walther P22 handgun and 35 rounds of live ammunition

In January 2014 the NCA closed down a cash counterfeiting racket that could
have posed a significant threat to the UK economy. It was estimated that the
setup had released notes with a face value of around £1.3m when it was
raided. Forensic analysis of the firm’s equipment showed exactly when it was
being used and what was being produced. Mobile phone data and automatic
number plate recognition evidence were also critical to the success of the
investigation. A Bank of England spokesperson said: “The Bank works closely
with the National Crime Agency in the fight against counterfeiting. We are
grateful for their work in pursuing this case to a successful conclusion”.

In 2013 officers from the NCA's shadow NCCU arrested a male for conspiracy
to commit computer misuse act offences. This investigation into the largest
known DDOS attack, widely reported in the press as having ‘slowed the
internet down’. NCCU officers led the UK part of the investigation. This arrest
was in connection with an on-going joint operation with various countries
investigating the denial of service attack on Spamhaus and Cloudflare, having
a worldwide impact on a number of associated Internet Exchanges, including
London Internet Exchange (LINX).`A young person was arrested at their
home address. This arrest was co-ordinated with arrest activity in other
European countries. The subject was found in a bedroom with computer
systems open and logged onto various virtual systems and forums.
Computers and digital media were seized for examination by the team’s digital
technical investigators. The subject had a significant money flow and
Financial Investigators have restrained monies. Technical officers on
premises were required to resolve previously un-encountered live forensic
issues in over-coming virtual sessions in progress to avoid loss of evidence.
Officers worked through the night and the following day to acquire best
9
evidence. Several exhibits were seized including computers and mobile
devices.
 Data extraction took 36hrs to complete, with between 1-2 terabytes of data
recovered
 Live data acquired as evidence from open systems overcoming encryption
technology and volatile data challenges
 Exhibits and digital media seized
 Young person arrested with significant money - presently on bail
 Young person being home tutored in Russian language skills
 NCCU worked with Europol and 3 other nations LE agencies

In January 2014 an organised crime group, which facilitated the live streaming
of child sexual abuse to order in the Philippines, was dismantled after a joint
investigation by the NCA, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and US
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The operation (“Operation
Endeavour”) resulted in: 29 international arrests; 12 countries involved in the
arrest of individuals who had been paying for the live abuse of children; and
15 children in the Philippines aged between 6-15 identified and safeguarded
from sexual abuse. In addition to Operation Endeavour, three other separate
investigations are currently ongoing into the live streaming of child sexual
abuse, which have already identified 733 suspects – 139 of these in the UK
and 594 overseas.
These cases show how the NCA tackles serious crime through the efforts of its own
officers and through liaising, cooperating and sharing information with other agencies
and bodies both in the UK and abroad.
There has been a fundamental shift from a regional or national approach to tackling
serious and organised crime, and the NCA is at the forefront of this. Our members
are faced with ever more sophisticated and high-tech criminal endeavours, and the
skills and dedication required by NCA officers is immense.
10
Section 2. Impact of Crime and Courts Act 2013 on officers with powers
The NCA came into existence on 7th October 2013. Its membership was formed
predominantly (although not exclusively) from the officers of SOCA and civil service
roles (Borders Agency, NPIA, National Fraud Authority). The precursor organisations
were represented by civil service unions who had for several years been engaged in
national campaigns for fair pay and pensions. No fewer than four calls for strike
action had occurred in the preceding six years which were supported in various ways
by their members. Additionally, SOCA and HMRC staff from PCS, Unison and FDA
unions had been involved in class action demonstrations in London to support the
aforementioned campaigns.
Section 13 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 prohibits NCA officers with powers
from taking industrial action.
The NCA will have a workforce of around 4500 and the ultimate aim is for nearly all
members of staff to be designated with powers, effectively removing their right to
strike. 1800 officers currently hold powers, and with 400 new joiners arriving in 2014,
the prohibition on industrial action will soon apply to the majority of the NCA’s
workforce.
To many, the Crime and Courts Act 2013 delivers a significant cultural change. It
restricts any ability to escalate issues of major dispute and, whilst remaining
members of their chosen trade union, they are powerless to support the campaigns
that directly affect their work, pay and pensions. They are civil servants in respect of
government reform pay, terms and conditions, contracts, mobility and capability, yet
have the same restrictions placed upon them as if they were armed forces or the
police.
On behalf of our members, we would urge the NCARRB to consider this factor
carefully. In the light of this cultural change, we would respectfully submit that it is
essential for morale that the NCA’s officers with powers do not feel that this
represents a significant detriment upon them.
11
Section 3. The need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified
NCA officers.
Our members that are the subject of this review span grades G6 to G1. The
organisational tree currently stands at:






G1 x 56
G2 x 171
G3 x 530
G4 x 1197
G5 x 1827
G6 x 341
The NCOA has the data to break this information down further - however, this is a
generic claim in respect of its members and the NCOA does not seek to demonstrate
any regional pay aspects or a desire to improve any particular geographical area
over another.
The NCA workforce age profile can be best seen as a percentage of the entire
organisation. At the end of 2013, this was:






20 – 29 years of age = 7.9%
30 – 39 years of age = 28.4%
40 – 49 years of age = 36.1%
50 – 59 years of age = 24.1%
60 – 69 years of age = 3.0%
Over 65 = 0.4%
A 2014 early voluntary exit scheme seeks to reduce the above by around 400
officers. At the time of compiling this report it is not known the age demographics or
grade of the mutually accepted leavers. The NCOA welcomes any scheme affording
its members the opportunity for grade progression and promotion and seeks to
ensure that the employer will use the scheme intelligently to recruit at lower grades
and upwardly promote to backfill any shortfall left by the voluntary scheme.
It is vital for both the NCA and the country as a whole that the right people are
recruited. The most cursory of glances at the generic and specific skills required by
NCA officers would show that these roles are demanding. The ability and
temperament to combat highly sophisticated criminal enterprises are attributes that
relatively few people possess, and it is essential that an appropriate salary is offered
to attract applicants with the right skills (or the ability to attain those skills quickly).
A job with the National Crime Agency will undoubtedly always attract a large amount
of interest due to its profile and the nature of the work. However, it is only by
attracting and retaining suitably qualified full time staff will the organisation be
resilient and be able to operate in the harsh environment that leading law
enforcement demands.
12
Recruiting suitable staff is only the start. It is equally vital that NCA staff – who will
usually be highly skilled and committed individuals – are retained.
In 2013, 268 SOCA/NCA staff left the organisation. It is notable that no fewer than
102 of these resigned from their employment in order (presumably) to work
elsewhere for enhanced salaries or greater job satisfaction.
It is our submission that a key feature in difficulties in retaining or motivating existing
staff is pay.
In carrying out this pay review, the NCARRB is concerned with evidence. In Autumn
2013, NCA staff took part in the Civil Service People survey, and the results of that
survey are appended to this submission.
The key points are as follows:



Only 33% agreed or strongly agreed when asked if they thought they were
adequately paid
Only 34% agreed or strongly agreed when asked if they thought they pay was
reasonable compared to people doing a similar job in other organisations
Only 39% agreed or strongly agreed when asked if they would recommend
the NCA as a great place to work
There is obvious and understandable loyalty towards the NCA. 62% wanted to stay
working there for at least the next three years – but that loyalty is being stretched.
14% want to leave the NCA either as soon as possible or in the next 12 months –
which means that almost 1 in 7 sees their short term future elsewhere.
14% of a workforce of 4,500 equates to some 630 individuals – this represents a
great deal of skill and experience that is extremely difficult (and expensive) to
replace. The greatest single concern would appear to be pay.
There are of course budgetary considerations associated with any pay rise. The
NCOA notes however, that the monthly expenditure on agency or contracted staff in
the NCA, rose to almost £500,000 in 2013. Be that on occasion’s specialist activity
is better serviced by paying external agencies a one off fee, this needs to be
balanced against the advantages of training existing staff or having those
agency/contracted workers pass on their skills to NCA full time employees. Our
submission is that consideration of the amounts spent on employing
agency/contracted staff should not present any detriment to our members from the
correct and affordable uplift in salary this year.
It is apparent from the survey that many staff at the NCA are concerned about pay
and/or are considering leaving in the near future. NCA officers are a national asset,
and we say that it is essential to retain and motivate them through a reasonable pay
increase.
13
Section 4. Legal obligations on the NCA Officers
The NCA is of course subject to anti-discrimination legislation regarding age, gender,
race, sexual orientation, religion and belief and disability. This is primarily contained
in the Equality Act 2010.
As far as we are aware, there are no existing concerns in the field of equal pay or
equal value.
For the reasons contained elsewhere in our submission, we seek (in general terms)
a rise “across the board” for officers with powers, and such a rise would not give rise
to any additional concerns under the Equality Act.
This is subject to one important caveat, and that is the situation facing NCA staff in
Northern Ireland.
NCA staff working in Northern Ireland face different pressures and concerns to that
of their colleagues in the rest of the UK. The majority of investigations involve travel
over to the mainland, which inevitably extends the officers’ time away from home.
The only additional remuneration is a £25 overnight allowance.
This is seen by staff as wholly inadequate. The £25 allowance is the same whether
the extraction involves one overnight or numerous overnight stays. The obvious
geographical factors mean that officers often spend substantial periods away from
home with the knock on effect of additional and costly childcare.
Accordingly it is our view that NCA officers in Northern Ireland are placed under
significant and additional domestic and financial pressures.
That situation is exacerbated in this transition period between inception and a full
empowered workforce. Northern Ireland officers with powers are expected to be
additionally used as ‘surge’ staff where they are deployed to support other
operations. The net result is that numerous officers, despite being mapped (posted)
to Belfast, actually work primarily in England. They feel strongly that they should not
be further penalised simply because they are ostensibly located in Northern Ireland.
Furthermore, those officers who are based in Northern Ireland face substantial
threats to their security and. Members of staff at NCA Belfast believe that they are
likely to come under threat from terrorist elements within Northern Ireland.
Dissident Republicans are actively targeting any law enforcement/security force
presence in Northern Ireland. Sadly they have already killed officers within the Prison
Service and the PSNI, and in this context it is worth considering that the NCA is
intended to be a far more visible presence that its predecessor, SOCA.
On a purely financial level, our members in Northern Ireland have suffered from the
lack of any discernable pay award for several years. The NI cost of living, however,
continues to rise, as does the level of pension contributions as part of the
14
Government pensions review. The security issues associated with Northern Ireland
dictate that there are only certain areas where officers may live. There is evidence
that the housing trend there has not maintained pace with the mainland, and the
combination of these factors has seen the numbers of officers trapped in negative
equity increase.
To reflect the unique living, working and security conditions in Northern Ireland, PSNI
officers receive an NI allowance. A couple of weeks ago it was announced that
Northern Ireland Prison Officers would similarly receive a security related pay award
in 2014.
NCA officers have to operate within an environment similar to that of their PSNI
colleagues and arguably more testing than that of the Prison Service. The NCOA
would seek to have this considered by the panel at the time of making any 2014
award.
Of specific equal value concern for our members is the fact that operational staff
within Northern Ireland, due to the security situation, are accompanied by PSNI
when they are operationally ‘out on the ground’. As already mentioned above, the
PSNI receive an ‘NI allowance’ whilst the NCA officers do not. This pay disparity is a
cause of anger and feeling of being worth less than their PSNI friends and
colleagues.
It is respectfully submitted that it is hard to see how this discrepancy can be justified.
A female officer with powers working in NCA Belfast reports:
“On top of all the security concerns around our place of work and location of
home, the demands on us to often work away, causing long periods of
absence before actually getting home compared with our mainland
colleagues, impacts heavily on our home lives and that of our families.
Additionally, the fact that the maximum pay scales for NCA have not shifted in
years means that several have had no pensionable increase in pay. Without
any of the promised pay progression, many officers have been unable to
reach the median scale, never mind the dizzy heights of the maximum! Why
do we have a pay scale if is not being adhered to?”
15
Section 5. Pay Submission 2014
The vast majority of staff in the National Crime Agency have been subject of the
government’s spending review and pay freeze. Between 2008 and 2011 most
received no annual uplift to salary. Intended ‘spine point’ movement was not met and
officers found themselves static in respect of any pay progression.
In 2012 and 2013 staff were again subject to the Government’s policy on public
sector pay which restricted awards to no more than a 1% increase in the pay budget.
All staff who were assessed in their PDS as either excellent or good received some
element of an award. However, the increase was not equal and was dependent upon
an already disputed system of awarding performance related pay. The awards were:



Below Target Range of grade £540
Target Range of grade, £270
Above Target Range, £135
These were consolidated awards apart from any portion of the £135 award that took
an officer above the maximum of their grade, which became non-consolidated.
Where this happened, the award was paid as a non-consolidated payment.
There was a further divisive and unpopular mechanism whereby money was
removed from the remit prior to agreement, by the unpopular method of removing a
percentage of the pay pot to “recognise staff assessed as excellent performers”, who
received £645 irrespective of grade. This added further misery to the 80% of staff
who had performed well and met all expectations of them but who had failed to be
marked as “excellent”.
The divisiveness of this mechanism will be obvious, and that is compounded by the
lack of confidence in staff as to whether and how it is judged on an objective and
reliable basis. In the 2013 staff survey only 51% of staff reported having any
confidence in how managers assessed their performance.
There was no change in the pay range minima, maxima or target range values.
These remained at their 2009 values four years earlier! The current pay scales are
attached at Appendix C.
It is our submission that a reasonable pay rise is fair and justified. We say that, given
the unique role of NCA officers with powers, such a rise should be between 2% and
2.5%.
We have referred above to the restrictions and freezes on pay awards to our
members over recent years. In addition, the effect on those awards of inflation ought
to be considered.
We maintain that the Retail Price Index (“RPI”) is a better and more accurate
measure of inflation for our members than the Consumer Price Index (“CPI”) as it
includes the housing costs that form a significant part of the expenditure of most
NCA employees.
16
In the year to December 2013 the RPI grew by 2.7%m, and the CPI by 2% 5. Even if
one considers only the CPI, it has risen from 109.5 in December 2008 to 127.5 in
December 2013 – a rise in excess of 16.4%. In the same period, the RPI has risen
from 212.9 to 253.4 – a rise of over 19%.
Of course, we appreciate that these are straitened times, and we do not make our
submission on the extent to which our members’ pay increases have been
outstripped by the demands on their pockets. However, we do say that this factor
reinforces the reasonableness of a 2-2.5% pay increase for officers with powers.
Accordingly, the pay scale minima, target and maxima should be uplifted to allow for
any pay increases in 2014 to be consolidated for all officers.
We would submit that fundamentally it is the unique demands on officers with
powers that merit such an increase, and accordingly we say that it should be a
similar rise for all officers. There should in our view be a move away from
performance related pay, particularly given the great difficulty in assessing
performance objectively and fairly.
5
Office for National Statistics
17
Section 6. Summary
The National Crime Agency performs a vital function. In doing so, it is utterly
dependent on the professionalism, skills and dedication of its officers.
We say that it is imperative that officers feel motivated and valued both in terms of
remuneration and job satisfaction. The survey referred to in section 3 reports that
only 55% of staff are currently proud to tell others that they are an NCA officer.
Despite performing one of the most unique and nationally important law enforcement
roles in the country, just 39% of its staff recommend the NCA as a great place to be
at work and only 40% feel inspired to do their best.
It is therefore a credit to the men and women of the NCA that the roles are
performed with the highest degree of professionalism and dedication. This is
nowhere more evident than the recent joint operations led by the National Crime
Agency and reported earlier in this submission to tackle national and international
online child sex abuse, major drug trafficking, counterfeiting and cross border gun
smuggling.
NCA officers work in an environment that is challenging, difficult and often
dangerous. Maintaining motivation and morale is an essential factor in the success
of the Agency and, by extension, in the protection of the public.
That motivation and morale, though, is under real threat. The results of the 2013
survey and the decline in the standard of living provide ample evidence of this.
We have read with interest the letter dated 21st January 2014 from the Home
Secretary to the Chair of the NCARRB, and the emphasis placed upon the potential
pay divergence between officers with, and officers without, powers. We note the
Home Secretary’s view that the two “are, to some extent, interchangeable”, and her
view that “the workforce as a whole should retain parity of pay if the evidence
supports this”.
We would respectfully disagree that officers with powers are interchangeable with
those without – to any extent.
The Crime and Courts Act 2013 provided for the Home Secretary to set strategic
priorities for the NCA, and the first of which was set as follows:
“The first priority of the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy is the highest
priority for the NCA: to identify and disrupt serious and organised crime
including by investigating and enabling the prosecution of those responsible
(‘Pursue’). The NCA will co-ordinate this work, leading and supporting
operations across five main areas: organised crime; cyber; economic crime;
child sexual exploitation and serious and organised crime at, and crossing,
our borders.6”
66
NCA Annual Plan 2013-2014, p. 6
18
How are these aims (and those set out in the other strategic priorities) to be
achieved? The answer perhaps lies in the list of operation capabilities provided in the
NCA Annual Plan. The first – and perhaps the most important – is:
“A network of skilled investigative officers with a flexible capability to
investigate serious and organised crime in support of the Commands, NCCU
and partners within the UK, at the border and internationally. 7”
The National Crime Agency is unique. Its officers are not customs officials, nor police
officers, nor immigration officials. The Agency is not a constabulary, a children’s
protection service, a cyber or border unit, or a security service. It is all of these and
more, and it can only function through its officers with the triumvirate of powers that
were specifically granted by Parliament in the Crime and Courts Act.
We hope that we have demonstrated through our submission that officers with
powers cannot be viewed as “interchangeable” with any other operative in any field
of law enforcement. Through their powers, they provide the “flexible capability” that is
vital to the success of the NCA in protecting the public.
We submit that this should be reflected in the 2014 pay award.

7
NCA Annual Plan 2013-2014, p. 12
19