Government unveils all-new strategy for tackling organised crime

The National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates that there are at least 59,000 individuals in the UK involved in serious and organised crime and that such criminality costs the UK at least £47 billion each year, equating to the cost of building around 450 new hospitals or supplying circa 730,000 more affordable homes outside of London.  

The new strategy, which builds on the work already set in motion by Government and law enforcement partners, sets out further action to eradicate complex criminal networks, including through the NCA, which itself is receiving record investment in 2023-2024. It also empowers local police services to tackle these illicit crimes in their communities and sets out work overseas to prevent exploitation, such as modern slavery and human trafficking.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Serious and organised crime threatens our national security and prosperity, degrades society and causes serious harm to individuals and businesses up and down the country. Through investment in innovative and cutting-edge policing capabilities and tactics, collaboration with international partners and the creation of new criminal offences, we will disrupt and dismantle organised crime groups and those who enable them.”

Strengthened resilience

Through the strategy, the Government will strengthen local communities’ resilience to serious and organised crime, ensuring that once a gang has been dismantled, the area in which it was operating does not become the target for another group to take its place.

By rolling out the ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ policing tactic to every police force in England and Wales in the early part of 2024, police and local partners will be empowered to ‘clear’ their communities of these gangs, prevent criminals from exploiting the vacuum created by the initial disruption in the ‘Hold’ phase and tackle the local drivers of crime. This will prevent further serious and organised crime from becoming re-established in the future, in turn ‘building’ a safer community for the next generation.  

This approach is already in operation in 18 police forces across 31 sites. In Easington Lane, on the outskirts of Sunderland, there has been a 45% reduction in anti-social behaviour since January 2022, while in Barnet the Metropolitan Police Service arrested 160 individuals for 272 offences, including murder, aggravated burglary and kidnap, in the first two months of the programme.

The Government is also bringing in new powers in the Criminal Justice Bill to ensure the police have the tools they need to disrupt serious and organised crime. This includes prohibiting articles used by criminal gangs, such as templates for 3D printed firearm components, pill presses and vehicle concealments, as well as banning electronic devices such as signal jammers used in vehicle theft.

Serious Crime Prevention Orders

The Criminal Justice Bill will also strengthen Serious Crime Prevention Orders, making it easier for the police and other law enforcement agencies to place restrictions on offenders or suspected offenders and stop them from participating in further crime.

The Government will back UK police with a further £5 million to help them step up their response to organised immigration crime, including work by the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit.  

Noting the international nature of many criminal networks, the strategy highlights the vital work of the new Joint International Crime Centre. Launched in April this year, it combines resources in the NCA and the NPCC to respond to the growing threat from criminality that crosses international borders and impacts the UK. This involves co-ordinating and supporting the UK’s international law enforcement response and hosting the UK’s National Extradition Unit, the UK’s Europol National Unit and the INTERPOL National Central Bureau.

Tackling exploitation  

The strategy sets out how the Government will build on these efforts to tackle exploitation overseas, including modern slavery and human trafficking, with a further £24 million allocated to the Modern Slavery Fund. Since 2016, this has actually supported thousands of potential victims, as well as protecting survivors from further harm.

The funding will support programmes aimed at preventing exploitation and protecting the victims of modern slavery in Albania, Vietnam and Romania. This includes a project in Vietnam that provides training and employment opportunities to individuals ‘in country’ who have previously been victims of modern slavery in the UK, or those vulnerable to exploitation by people traffickers.

It will also support the Modern Slavery Innovation Fund, which is building the evidence base of what works to reduce vulnerability to exploitation and prevent forced labour in UK supply chains. This funding goes directly to non-Governmental organisations in more than 12 countries.

As part of wider efforts to tackle illegal immigration to the UK, which has seen small boat arrivals decrease by more than one-third this year, the Government has also doubled its funding for Project INVIGOR to £74.1 million for this year and next. This aims to target smugglers’ business models and relentlessly pursue those individuals who facilitate organised immigration crime.

Economic crime

The strategy highlights the Government’s efforts to tackle economic crime. Through the Fraud Strategy, the Government is working with industry, intelligence agencies, and law enforcement to crack down on the increased prevalence of fraud as organised crime groups exploit new and emerging technologies to target the public.

The Home Secretary has also authorised for the NCA’s director general to be given the power to direct the Serious Fraud Office in relation to matters of serious and complex fraud, bribery and corruption.

The Government has made notable progress on the Fraud Strategy commitments to tackle online scams by signing a world-first online Fraud Charter with 12 of the biggest tech companies. The aim is to clamp down on online scams and fake advertisements affecting their users. Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google and other platforms have committed to bringing in a raft of measures to help protect people from fraudulent and scam content when using their sites.  

Further, the Government is creating new laws through the Criminal Justice Bill that prohibit the possession and supply of SIM farms with no good reason and provide law enforcement with a new power to suspend domain names and IP addresses used for criminal activity (including fraudulent purposes). The Government will also be launching an anti-fraud communications campaign in the New Year to raise public awareness on how to both spot and avoid fraud.