Police Act 1997

48General functions of the NCS Service Authority and the National Crime Squad

(1)The NCS Service Authority shall maintain a body to be known as the National Crime Squad.

(2)The function of the National Crime Squad shall be to prevent and detect serious crime which is of relevance to more than one police area in England and Wales.

(3)The National Crime Squad may also—

(a)at the request of a chief officer of police of a police force in England and Wales, act in support of the activities of his force in the prevention and detection of serious crime;

(b)at the request of the Director General of NCIS, act in support of the activities of NCIS;

(c)institute criminal proceedings;

(d)co-operate with other police forces in the United Kingdom in the prevention and detection of serious crime;

(e)act in support of other law enforcement agencies in the prevention and detection of serious crime.

(4)For the purposes of subsection (3), “law enforcement agency” includes—

(a)any government department,

(b)the States of Jersey Police Force, the salaried police force of the Island of Guernsey and the Isle of Man Constabulary,

(c)any other person charged with the duty of investigating offences or charging offenders, and

(d)any other person engaged outside the United Kingdom in the carrying on of activities similar to any carried on by the NCS Service Authority, the National Crime Squad, a police authority, a police force, the NCIS Service Authority or NCIS.

(5)In discharging its functions, the NCS Service Authority shall have regard to—

(a)any objectives determined by the Secretary of State under section 71,

(b)any objectives determined by the Authority under section 49,

(c)any performance targets established by the Authority, whether in compliance with a direction under section 72 or otherwise, and

(d)any service plan issued by the Authority under section 50.

(6)In discharging any function to which a code of practice issued under section 73 relates, the NCS Service Authority shall have regard to the code.

(7)The NCS Service Authority shall comply with any direction given to it by the Secretary of State under section 72 or 75 or under Schedule 5.