Section 87: Police members of NCS
427.With the exception of senior officers, the Police Act 1997 only allows police officers to be seconded to NCS, rather than working there permanently. Furthermore, it restricts secondments to NCS to officers from the forty-three forces of England and Wales. This is more limited than the provisions in the 1997 Act relating to NCIS, and reflects the fact that the NCS operates only in England and Wales.
428.This section amends section 55 of the 1997 Act to provide, for the first time, that NCS may recruit police officers of any rank directly from police forces, rather than rely solely on secondments. NCIS will advertise for officers in the same way as territorial forces. The intention is that only serving police officers may apply, but from a wide range of forces. In addition to the forces from which NCS will be able to second, NCS will be able to recruit officers from Scotland, Northern Ireland, the BTP and from the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. The recruitment pool (but not the secondment pool) for NCIS and NCS will be identical.
429.Subsection (2) provides that, subject to new subsection (3) police officers of any rank may be appointed as police members of NCS, in addition to being engaged there on temporary service.
430.Subsection (3) replaces the existing subsection (3) to provide that police officers may be recruited from: any force maintained under section 2 of the 1996 Act; the Metropolitan Police; the City of London Police; police forces in Scotland; the Police Service of Northern Ireland; the National Criminal Intelligence Service; the Ministry of Defence Police; the British Transport Police; and the police forces of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It also provides that officers on temporary service in the NCS may be recruited on a permanent basis.
431.Subsection (4) amends subsection (9) to provide that the appointment of police officers at the rank of assistant chief constable may not be delegated to the Director General from the Service Authority.
432.Subsection (5) adds a new subsection (9A), which defines ‘temporary service’. The effect of this provision is to define the pool of officers who may be recruited by NCS in reliance on section 55(3(k) of the 1997 Act.