Expansion of staff at the National Crime Agency

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has appointed 100 new specialist intelligence officers and detectives to the National Crime Agency (NCA) to tackle criminal smuggling gangs.

While PCS welcomes this decision, it highlights the difficulties the NCA has experienced in the past in recruiting staff for these specialist roles, due to underfunding and erosion of salaries and career opportunities. There has been no increase above inflation since 2010.

The NCA is investigating how wage reform can be implemented and PCS hopes that the new government will provide funding to pay these workers a decent wage, fulfilling the government’s promise to secure our borders in the long term.

PCS also welcomes the increased focus on tackling human traffickers and criminal immigration gangs. However, PCS wants to ensure that these new tasks are not only aimed at harmful measures against the victims of criminals.

Together with Care4Calais, PCS has set up an alternative Safe Passage Visa programme so that refugees can enter the UK safely and start their asylum claims in our Safe Passage Now: The way to stop the boats and save lives. Safe Passage Visas would reduce the risk of lives, break the people smugglers’ business model and treat people with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Fran Heathcote, PCS General Secretary, said: “While we welcome any new jobs, we hope the government will support these appointments with new money to ensure they – and existing staff – are paid a fair wage.

“And while we also welcome a greater focus on tackling human traffickers, we are clear that our members should be deployed against the criminals, not their victims.”