National Crime Agency 'on its knees', anti-corruption charity warns

Agency suffering from "major brain drain", with morale "close to rock bottom" amid "potential catastrophic" pay issues
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By Tevye Markson

09 Sep 2024

The National Crime Agency is “on its knees” due to recruitment, retention, progression and pay issues, an anti-corruption charity has warned.

Almost one in 10 of the agency’s roles are unfilled – compared to the one-in-25 average across the public sector – and the organisation is suffering from “major brain drain”, according to the report from Spotlight on Corruption.

The organisation has a churn rate of 8% but the report warns that this is much higher for senior managers (25%) and lawyers (30%).

Amid the recruitment and retentions issues, spending on temporary staff and consultants has ballooned by 369% since 2015-16 and morale is “close to rock bottom”, the report says.

In the most recent Civil Service People Survey, the NCA ranked bottom for satisfaction with resources and workload (62%) among 105 organisations. Just 36% of respondents from the agency said they have the tools they need to do their job effectively – the next-lowest organisation's score was 48%.

The NCA was also one of the lowest-performing organisations for pay satisfaction. The report says pay stagnation is the “root cause” of the agency’s recruitment, retention and morale issues.

Real-terms pay has fallen by 16.3% since the agency was established in 2013-14; this year’s proposed pay rise of 5% will take that down 13.9%.

More than half of NCA officers are stuck on the bottom of their pay range with no chance of pay or career progression, according to the report, with the agency facing equal-pay claims of around £200m due to its “unfair and divisive” pay structures.

The report found NCA pay compares poorly to its counterparts, paying less than the police at all grades, with senior roles paid 21%-25% lower, and less than other parts of the civil service. For example, the head of the NCA’s digital and tech command is paid 21.3% less than an equivalent role in the civil service, while a senior procurement manager at the agency is paid 20.8% less than in the civil service.  And NCA pay is less than half what officers can get in the private sector.

The report, which is based on NCA reports and submissions to the agency's independent pay review body, said the implications of not addressing pay issues are “potentially catastrophic” due to its responsibility of protecting the public from hostile threats, fraud and corruption, and serious organised crime.

It also warns of "creaking technology", pointing to a 2021 His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services report that found IT was “slow and inefficient” and that the agency had struggled to “plan and implement complex projects such as IT improvements due to the lack of long-term capital funding".

Spotlight on Corruption has called on the government to undertake an urgent review of the organisational status of the NCA to ensure it is insulated from recruitment freezes and budget cuts. It also wants the government to invest more money in the NCA so that it can undertake “speedy and ambitious” pay reform and transform its technological capability.

Currently, any pay increases or measures the NCA takes to address its critical pay issues must be funded from within its own budget, “meaning it must continually rob Peter to pay Paul from within its own resources”, Spotlight said. 

Dr Susan Hawley, executive director of the charity and co-author of the report, said: “If the government wants the NCA to be at the forefront of tackling the range of threats and challenges the UK faces, from organised immigration gangs to hostile and corrupt states, it needs to put its money where its mouth is.

“The NCA for too long has been forced to operate at sub-par because of lack of sufficient investment. It desperately needs a new injection of cash to fund major pay reform and cutting-edge technology. This new investment can easily be offset against the long term value for the taxpayer that it will bring, including by reducing the massive sums the agency now spends on temporary labour and consultants to fill its vacancies.”

The report also compares the NCA unfavorably to the FBI, which has a turnover rate of 1.8%, and says "the contrast between the two agencies could not be more striking", with the US agency having "attractive pay, benefits and better opportunities for professional growth".

A spokesperson for the NCA said: “The agency is world leading in many areas, and has achieved significant and continued success over its decade in operation. Last year alone, our officers made more than 4,700 disruptions, our most ever and more than a dozen every single day.

“That said, the Spotlight report highlights a number of issues regarding our funding, pay structures, staffing and investment – aspects we have identified in our own reports, and are actively working to address.  

 “'We are committed to working with government to ensure that the agency has the right structure and operating model, and, crucially, is able to attract, retain and support a talented workforce.

“We know that it is imperative that we deliver value for money while achieving our mission of protecting the public from serious and organised crime, now and as the threat evolves.”

A Home Office spokesperson added: “The National Crime Agency plays a vital role in tackling organised criminal gangs, and this government is committed to investing in the NCA and its people to ensure that it has the capacity and capability to tackle growing threats.

“Last month, we announced 100 extra NCA officers who will work with partners across Europe to smash the criminal smuggling gangs that are driving dangerous small boat crossings, which is on top of the 50% uplift in NCA officers stationed in Europol.”

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