Extracts from Commons proceedings: National Crime Agency - May 25
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Extract from Commons Delegated Legislation Committee consideration
of the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations 2021 Catherine
West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab):...One of the things that Bill
Browder has suggested needs to looked at is whether our crime
fighting organisations are fully resourced. For example, I know
from a Foreign Affairs Committee trip to Colombia—where we have
concerns about corruption relating to the drug trade and about its
impact here in the UK—that at that...Request free trial
Extract from
Commons Delegated Legislation Committee consideration of the Global
Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations 2021
Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab):...One of the things that Bill Browder has suggested needs to looked at is whether our crime fighting organisations are fully resourced. For example, I know from a Foreign Affairs Committee trip to Colombia—where we have concerns about corruption relating to the drug trade and about its impact here in the UK—that at that point the National Crime Agency was facing cuts to its service. I also know that the Serious Fraud Office needs more resource and more legal powers to bring more successful cases—it has not had a good record of late. All those bits of the puzzle need to be in place to bring these crooks to justice... To read the whole debate, CLICK HERE Extracts from fifth sitting of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill committee The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Victoria Atkins):...Amendment 76 is an important amendment. We are exploring how the police covenant, as currently drafted, can apply to police forces and law enforcement organisations that do not fall within the remit of the Home Office, in particular the British Transport police, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the Ministry of Defence police and the National Crime Agency We are very much alive to the points made both by organisations and in this debate. With that work ongoing, I trust that the hon. Member for Croydon Central will not press the amendment to a vote... The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Chris Philp):...We consulted last year on extending the maximum penalty from one year to two years and found overwhelming support for the move. In evidence last week, we heard representatives of policing and emergency services expressing strong support for the move as well. It will give courts the ability to pass higher sentences, reflecting the seriousness and severity of these offences. The clause does not change the definition of emergency workers. That is set out in section 3(1) of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 and covers police constables; National Crime Agency officers; prison and custody officers; fire, rescue and search personnel; and those people providing NHS services. The clause simply amends the maximum sentence that appears in that Act from 12 months to two years... Sarah Jones (Croydon Central) (Lab):...The serious violence duty is a unique opportunity to bring together all the relevant authorities for training and action at a local level. In the past decade, county lines drug dealing has been a major driver of serious violence across the country. I am afraid that since the National Crime Agency’s first county lines assessment in 2015, the Government have been slow to respond, and cuts across the public sector have made things worse. Sadly, county lines drug networks rely on the grooming of vulnerable children to act as drug runners. They are badly exploited, then abandoned when they are no longer of use to the gang leaders. The Children’s Commissioner for England has estimated that 27,000 children are gang members. Modelling done by crime and justice specialists, Crest Advisory, identified 213,000 vulnerable children. To read the whole debate, CLICK HERE Extracts from Westminster Hall debate on Cyber-Fraud in the UK Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab):...In February, the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies published its occasional paper on the topic of cyber-fraud, “The UK’s Response to Cyber Fraud: A Strategic Vision”, which notes that the UK economy loses an average of £190 billion every year to fraud, and that the majority of UK fraud now involves internet-based scams. Despite the commitment in the 2019 Conservative party manifesto to the creation of a new national cyber-crime force, the Government’s approach to tackling cyber-fraud can be described as an “alphabet soup”, according to the writers of the RUSI report. They gave a number of key recommendations for Government priority action, but I have highlighted the three that I think are most important as we work to make tackling cyber-crime a priority... First: “The National Crime Agency…should publish comprehensive guidance for private sector organisations on how they can lawfully assist law enforcement in preventing and investigating cyber fraud through information sharing.”.. The Minister for Crime and Policing (Kit Malthouse):...We recognise the devastating impact that fraud can have and how crucial it is that we do everything in our power to protect victims and bring the perpetrators to justice. As a number of Members have outlined this afternoon, these crimes are occurring on a vast scale. According to the latest figures for the year ending December 2020, fraud accounted for over a third of all crime. Is there anybody in the nation who has not been touched by it? I myself was plagued with calls from a recorded message purporting to be the National Crime Agency telling me that my national insurance number had been suspended and that I was likely to be arrested unless I pressed “1”. They obviously picked the wrong guy, in that I can call the NCA myself. But after I highlighted that problem in a newspaper, strangely enough the calls dried up the very next day. These people must be readers of The Times... ...At the forefront of our response is the law enforcement cyber-crime network, which operates at national, regional and local levels to combat the threat from this type of crime and to provide support to those affected. We are boosting the capabilities of the National Crime Agency’s National Cyber Crime Unit and increasing its ability to investigate the most serious cyber-crime. We are also continuing to invest in the cyber-teams in each of the regional organised crime units across England and Wales, to bolster the regional response... To read the whole debate, CLICK HERE |