Clause 70 - Director General of NCIS
Police Reform Bill [Lords]
10:00 am
Mr John Denham (Minister of State (Police, Courts and Drugs), Home Office; Southampton, Itchen, Labour)
We may have to agree to differ on that. NCIS is not a police but a multi-agency organisation. It has staff seconded from 22 national and international agencies. It plays a very important role in the fight against organised crime but it is for that reason that we want to ensure that the post of director general always attracts applications from the best candidates, potentially with a variety of relevant backgrounds. As the hon. Gentleman will have learnt from his time at NCIS, it focuses on intelligence, not on operational work. It informs the work of operational agencies, particularly but not exclusively the police. In intelligence work, police officers are not the only individuals with the right experience and personal qualities. Clearly, there are many people in such agencies as Customs and Excise, which are important components of NCIS, who potentially
have the relevant expertise to hold the post of its director general.
The change is being made for NCIS and not for the National Crime Squad because the NCS is a police organisation, carrying out operational police activities, and should be led by a police officer. The breadth of organisations involved in and co-operating in NCIS, and the reality that any one of those organisations could potentially produce the best candidate for the job of director general, has led us to the conclusion that there is no present need to restrict that post to a serving police officer.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 70 ordered to stand part of the Bill.