Correspondence

Remit letter from the Security Minister to the NCARRB on the 2026 to 2027 pay award (accessible)

Published 27 October 2025

Dan Jarvis MBE MP
Security Minister
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Zoë Billingham
Chair of the National Crime Agency Remuneration Review Body

By email only

27 October 2025

Dear Zoë,

National Crime Agency Remuneration Review Body Remit 2026/27

I am grateful to you and the other NCA Remuneration Review Body (NCARRB) members for your hard work over the years and valuable recommendations on the 2025/26 pay round. I would like to express additional thanks to those NCARRB members who have reached the end of their tenure, and welcome those joining the committee. I look forward to receiving the 12th NCARRB report, which I am confident will provide the expert, independent advice necessary to fairly compensate NCA officers as they continue their critical and tireless work in the fight against serious and organised crime.

I am writing to commence formally the 2026/27 pay round and set out how the Government intends to work with the NCARRB over the coming year. In accordance with the provisions of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, and with your terms of reference, it is important that I receive independent advice on the remuneration of NCA officers with operational powers.

We were pleased to be able to accept your recommendations for 2025/26 pay awards. However, since they came in above the figures we set out as affordable within evidence, they required trade-offs, including a slowdown in NCA’s planned recruitment activity. As the Spending Review confirmed, all pay must be funded from Departmental budgets and there will be no additional funding available for pay settlements. My Department’s evidence will set out the funds available to the Home Office for 2026/27, following the Spending Review, as well as the recruitment and retention context alongside and earnings data. 

We know that public sector workers delivering our vital public services deserve timely pay awards. I would be grateful if you could support this by submitting your report at the earliest point that allows you to give due consideration to the relevant evidence. I recognise that changing the timeline from recent years will present challenges for you, but I am sure you also share the Government’s belief in the importance of returning to more timely annual pay processes. To enable you to submit your report as early as possible, our department will submit written evidence in a timely manner.

During this pay round, you will receive evidence from my department, HM Treasury, and key stakeholders (including trade unions). My department’s evidence will cover the recruitment and retention context for NCA, including the expected position following the implementation of the 2025/26 pay award. It will also set out the funds available to the Home Office and NCA for 2026/27, which will be finalised through the internal departmental allocations process.

Furthermore, as the NCA advances its ‘One NCA’ policy, it is crucial that all staff, both those with and without operational powers are treated equitably in matters of pay. I would, therefore, ask that the NCARRB annual review takes this into consideration and provides clear recommendations on the proposed NCA pay award, while giving due regard to Civil Service pay and relevant guidance.

In considering your recommendations, you should therefore have regard to the following:

1. NCA’s productivity, efficiency improvements and the affordability of any proposals within the Agency’s existing budget constraints, noting the particularly challenging fiscal environment.
2. The pay gap differential between NCA and Police officers.
3. Pay in the Civil Service, aligning recommendations with the average pay across Civil Service departments.

Additionally, I would be grateful for the NCARRB to note that NCA will be seeking to address the structural pay and contract issues that you have highlighted in previous reports.

We remain committed to continuing to ensure that the 2026/27 pay awards reach pay packets in time for the start of the pay year. For the NCA, this means building on the momentum of two consecutive timely pay awards to establish a positive cycle into the future, reflective of the value that this Government places on critical and tireless work of NCA officers.

To this end, where possible I would be grateful if NCARRB would deliver its recommendations to the Government on the 2026/27 pay award for the National Crime Agency at its earliest convenience, whilst ensuring the Agency can implement the pay award by 1 August 2026, in line with the pay year. To support this, my Department will aim to cooperate with all your deadlines and submit evidence in a timely manner.

Thank you once again for your dedication to this important process. I look forward to reviewing your recommendations in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Dan Jarvis MBE MP

Cabinet Office and Home Office Security Minister