13 February 2004
Ministers are working on plans to merge several departmental cash streams to fund a 'British FBI' – the elite crimebusting squad announced this week.
Sources at the Home Office, Customs & Excise and the Treasury have confirmed that they are unsure how the Serious Organised Crime Agency, announced by Home Secretary David Blunkett on February 9, will be funded, although the likelihood is that the Home Office will provide all the cash directly.
That could leave Customs & Excise and other parts of the Home Office budget exposed to future cuts, as the government prepares to switch from a multi-agency approach to a single, co-ordinated unit for organised crime.
The new agency will merge the National Crime Squad, the National Criminal Intelligence Service and customs and fraud investigations across several Whitehall departments.
A spokesman for the Home Office told Public Finance that ministers 'still have some way to go' before announcing the financial details of Soca – dubbed the 'UK FBI' because of its similarities with the US's powerful federal unit. Customs & Excise sources told PF that the department could lose up to 1,200 personnel to Soca, which is likely to have 5,000 staff.
'What is not clear is whether we would lose a percentage [of our budget] as staff move to Soca, or whether an alternative arrangement is put in place,' a Customs & Excise spokeswoman added.
Blunkett said Soca would target organised criminals such as drug traffickers and people smugglers, estimated to cost the British economy £40bn a year. He said: 'They believe they are beyond the reach of justice. That is not the case… we must get ahead of them.'
PFfeb2004
