Director General of the National Crime Agency

Director General of the National Crime Agency
Badge of the National Crime Agency
Incumbent
Graeme Biggar
since 5 October 2021
Reports toHome Secretary
AppointerHome Secretary
Term length5 years, terms renewable or extendable for less than 5 years
Inaugural holderKeith Bristow
Formation7 October 2013
DeputySteve Rodhouse (Operations)
Claire Smith (Capabilities)
Rob Jones (National Economic Crime Centre)
Salary£214,722[1]
WebsiteNCA.gov.uk

The Director General of the National Crime Agency is the head of the National Crime Agency in the United Kingdom, and as such is responsible for the overall management of the NCA. The Director General is appointed by, and reports to, the Home Secretary,[2] but is not directly part of the Home Office.[3] The Director General is appointed on a five-year term basis, though this can be renewed (for another five-year term) or extended (for any period less than five years) at the Home Secretary's discretion.[4] The Home Secretary's power to select and appoint the Director General, and determine the terms and conditions of their appointment, is provided by the Crime and Courts Act 2013.[5]

As the Director General is in charge of a national agency with jurisdiction and investigative powers across the entire country, this post is considered to be the most senior police role in the United Kingdom, outranking the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, as the Director General has the power to direct any chief constables and commissioners.[6] The Director General is supported by three Deputy Directors General, in charge of Operations, Capabilities, and Economic Crime.[7]

The current Director General is Graeme Biggar,[8] who was appointed following the medical retirement of Lynne Owens.[9]

NCA Directors General

# Name Term Began Term Ended Length Prior Post Home Secretary Ref
1 Keith Bristow 7 October 2013 3 January 2016 2 years and 89 days Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police Theresa May [10]
2 Dame Lynne Owens 4 January 2016 4 October 2021 5 years and 274 days Chief Constable of Surrey Police [11]
Amber Rudd
Sajid Javid
Priti Patel [12]
– Graeme Biggar (interim) 5 October 2021 11 August 2022 311 days Director General of the National Economic Crime Centre [9]
3 Graeme Biggar 12 August 2022 Incumbent 2 years and 139 days Interim Director General of the National Crime Agency
(Concurrent Director General of the National Economic Crime Centre) 		[13]
Suella Braverman
Grant Shapps
Suella Braverman
James Cleverly
Yvette Cooper

See also

References

  1. ^ Commons, The Committee Office, House of. "House of Commons - Home affairs: Letter from Keith Bristow, Director General, National Crime Agency, to the Chair of the Committee, 18 September 2013". Retrieved 5 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "Graeme Biggar appointed NCA Director General". gov.uk. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2023. Home Secretary Priti Patel has appointed Graeme Biggar CBE as Director General of the National Crime Agency
  3. ^ https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/98446/fs-nca-goverenance.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  4. ^ Dodd, Vikram (20 October 2015). "Senior MI5 chief in running to lead National Crime Agency". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2015-10-21.
  5. ^ "Crime and Courts Act 2013, Schedule 1, paragraph 7". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2023. The Secretary of State is to select and appoint the Director General... The terms and conditions of an appointment as Director General are to be determined by the Secretary of State
  6. ^ Dodd, Vikram (26 November 2015). "National Crime Agency appoints Lynne Owens as director general". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2015-11-26. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  7. ^ "National Crime Agency - Our leadership". Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Graeme Biggar appointed NCA Director General". www.gov.uk. 12 August 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Graeme Biggar appointed Director General of the National Crime Agency". NCA. 1 October 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-10-01.
  10. ^ "UK National Crime Agency head to be Keith Bristow". BBC. 10 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2014-06-05.
  11. ^ "Lynne Owens announced as new head of National Crime Agency". Gov.uk. 26 November 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-11-27.
  12. ^ "Lynne Owens reappointed as NCA Director General". Gov.uk. 14 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-07-14.
  13. ^ "Graeme Biggar CBE appointed Director General of the National Crime Agency". 12 August 2022.