National Crime Agency

The National Crime Agency (NCA) will be a powerful new body of operational crime fighters with a clear focus on public protection.

The Crime and Courts Bill was introduced into the House of Lords on 10 May 2012. The bill includes provisions on the NCA, and subject to Parliamentary processes the ambition is that it will be fully operational by December 2013.

Operational crime fighting agency

The NCA will be an operational crime fighting agency that will:

• tackle organised crime
• strengthen our borders
• fight fraud and cyber crime
• protect children and young people

It will build on the work of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, and will incorporate some of the functions of the National Policing Improvement Agency which fit the agency's crime fighting remit.

Why do we need the NCA?

Organised crime costs the UK between £20 billion and £40 billion a year and organised crime groups often operate across boundaries - both in terms of crime type and geography. The NCA will deliver a step change in tackling serious, organised and complex crime, building on the work of its predcessors, by:

• pulling together a single national intelligence picture on organised criminals and their activities
• having the authority to coordinate and task the national response, prioritising resources according to threat
• working with law enforcement partners to ensure that those who commit serious and organised crime are pursued and brought to justice, their groups and activities disrupted, and their criminal gains stripped away

The NCA will build effective two-way relationships with police forces, law enforcement agencies and other partners. Find out more about how the NCA will operate.