National Criminal Intelligence Service (Hansard, 8 May 2002)

§ Mr. Grieve
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional resources are planned to be made available to NCIS for the anticipated increase in money laundering reporting by professionals following the Proceeds of Crime Bill. [53611]

§ Mr. Bob Ainsworth
The Home Office made an extra £250,000 available to the National Criminal Intelligence Service in 2000–01 to fund additional staff for the Economic Crime Branch, which handles suspicious transaction reports. The extra funding was increased to £1.8 million last year and will continue this year. The National Criminal Intelligence Service increased the staffing of the branch from 24 in August 2000 to 66 in December 2001, and a further increase of up to 20 staff is planned for 2002–03.
The Home Office and National Criminal Intelligence Service will keep the Service's capacity to deal with suspicious transaction reports under review following commencement of the new money laundering offences in the Proceeds of Crime Bill with a view to ensuring that an effective service is maintained.
The funding referred to above is separate from an additional £1 million which has been provisionally earmarked for 2002–03 for tracking terrorist finances. This will provide funding for a multi-agency unit at the National Criminal Intelligence Service, supported by additional investigative capacity at the Metropolitan Police Service.

§ Mr. Grieve
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the length of time is before solicitors, accountants and financial advisers who report suspected money laundering to NCIS receiving guidance on how to proceed(a) on average and (b) in the 20 per cent. of cases where NCIS is slowest to give guidance. [53612]

§ Mr. Bob Ainsworth
Information is not available in this form. I am informed by the National Criminal Intelligence Service that in all cases where guidance is232W sought about the making of a suspicious transaction report, advice is immediately available by telephone through the help desk within the Economic Crime Branch. When a report is made and identified by the Economic Crime Branch as requiring a prompt law enforcement response, it is processed under a fast track system within 24 hours and forwarded to the relevant law enforcement agency for any necessary action.
We are considering tabling amendments to the Proceeds of Crime Bill in order to introduce time limits within which law enforcement should either give or withhold consent for a financial transaction that has not yet taken place, where it has been reported as suspicious.