SEC0003

Supplementary written evidence submitted by the National Crime Agency (SEC0003)

Future Security Cooperation

1. Further to the evidence Deputy Assistant Commissioner Richard Martin and I gave to the Committee on 17 December 2020, I would like to share the following supplementary information on readiness to utilise alternative mechanisms from 1 January 2021. A copy of this letter has been shared with DAC Martin.

SIS 11 - People alerts

2. SIS Il enables 30 European1 countries to share and act on real-time data on persons and objects of interest including wanted and missing persons. These countries have access to a vast amount of information, and UK Law Enforcement (UKLE) has made extensive use of SIS Il. In 2019, the UK conducted 571 million searches, including through Police National Computer (PNC) and border systems which automatically check SIS Il data.

3. As of 31 December 2019, SIS Il contained a cumulative total of over 983,000 alerts on persons, of which the UK has access to around 456,000 people alerts. The UK does not have access to Article 24 alerts, relating to over 500,000 individuals from other countries that are listed as to be refused access to the Schengen area. The UK has only ever participated in the law enforcement aspects of the SIS Il system, and does not use SIS Il for immigration purposes. There is therefore no capability loss in relation to Article 24 alerts.

4. The breakdown of SIS Il people alerts that the UK has access to is as follows:  40,322 Article 26 alerts (purpose of arrest and surrender or extradition)  120,942 Article 32 (Missing person)  126,729 Article 34 (Person to assist with a judicial procedure)  168,032 Article 36 (Person for a discreet or specific check)

5. As of 31 December 2019, SIS Il included approximately 37,000 person alerts circulated by the UK, though many of these are automatically generated from PNC missing person alerts.

6. In relation to the deletion of SIS Il data, it is important to note that SIS data is not downloaded onto UK systems such as PNC, but is made available through them - with access to potentially over 90 million alerts from users across the EU covering nominats, documents and objects. SIS Il is an alerting system that doesn't hold intelligence, so comparisons cannot be made on the volume of intelligence held.

INTERPOL

7. INTERPOL notices and diffusions are the alternative mechanism for sharing data with EU Member States. Data can also be shared with INTERPOL member countries via direct messages, user interfaces and data platforms. Although it is not an exact like for tike system, INTERPOL is a tried and tested mechanism and was the primary means by which the UK

1 25 EU Member States (Ireland and Cyprus are not connected), 4 Schengen Associated Countries (Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland) and the UK. SEC0003

exchanged warnings alerts with EU partners as recently as 2015, when the UK connected to SIS Il.

8. INTERPOL red notices are comparable to Article 26 alerts (wanted for arrest) whilst INTERPOL yellow notices are comparable to Article 32 alerts (missing persons). As of the end of September 2020, there were a total of 56,000 live diffusions and notices2 (red, yellow, blue and green only) from 293 European countries. For red notices and Article 26 alerts the total numbers are broadly comparable as outlined below.

SIS II / INTERPOL comparisons

9. Any comparison between INTERPOL data and SIS Il data must be considered within the following caveats: there is not an exact correlation between SIS Il alerts and INTERPOL notices as data is not collected in the same way, and INTERPOL do not publish detailed figures which restricts the information we can make publically available. As discussed previously, there is a dependency on European partners to utilise dual circulation, and the breakdown of this information is data owned by individual countries. However we can provide the following information to help better understand potential capability gaps.

Article 26 / Red Notices (Wanted for Arrest)

10. On the 31 December 2020, we expect to lose access to SIS Il including approximately 40,000 Article 26 alerts for individuals wanted for arrest. However this loss is mitigated by the notices and diffusions which are circulated on the INTERPOL 124/7 system, including over 40,000 red notices/diffusions from 29 European countries. We cannot check alerts and notices match exactly, but we can and will continue to assess the volume of INTERPOL notices and diffusions in circulation. We are starting to detect an increase (14% since December 2019), in the number of red notices being circulated, however definitive figures on dual circulation by European countries would need to be checked with each country individually.

11. In a Non Negotiated Outcome, the NCA will complete an exercise to certify the 40,000 red notices and diffusions (issued by European countries) as a provisional basis for arrest. As an additional point of reassurance, prior to the introduction of SIS Il in the UK in 2015, 45,000 European Arrest Warrants were pre-validated by the NCA's UK International Crime Bureau (UKICB). As these figures are all broadly similar, we can say with a high degree of confidence, that we do not assess there to be a major capability gap in sharing information on individuals wanted for arrest.

Article 32 / Yellow notices (Missing persons)

2 Red notice - location and arrest of wanted persons, Yellow notice - locate missing persons, Blue notice collect additional information (on person's identity, location or activities in relation to a crime), Green notice to provide warning about a person's criminal activities.

3 25 El-JMS (UK, Ireland and Cyprus not included) and 4 Schengen associated countries. SEC0003

12. For missing people, the number of yellow notices and diffusions from 29 European countries (around 5,500 in December 2020) is lower than Article 32 alerts (120,943 as December 2019), in part because some SIS Il missing person alerts are generated automatically (as is the case in the UK). This is a capability gap, which we have mitigated against where possible. UKLE have undertaken risk assessments and prioritisation exercises to determine which alerts should be dual circulated, with for example a missing person unlikely to be added if there is a low risk of them leaving the UK. We are dependent on European partners making similar risk assessments, and are not directly sighted on other countries' data (including for example, discreet alerts placed by other European partners). We continue to engage with our European counterparts to encourage utilisation of, and dual circulation through INTERPOL notices.

UKLE readiness

13. The NCA has worked closely with our UKLE partners to ensure our preparations to utilise INTERPOL channels in place of SIS Il alerts are maximised and coordinated. Details from INTERPOL notices and diffusions received by the UK are routinely circulated on PNC and at the border. A 'data refresh exercise' has been completed which ensured that live and legacy notices and diffusions are circulated.

14. UK Police Forces are reviewing all existing and new SIS Il alerts to determine which are suitable for 'dual' circulation via INTERPOL channels. They have assessed and prioritised those which they assess have the most operational value, and as of 10 December 2020, over 8000 alerts have been dual circulated by UKLE.

European partners' readiness

15. If the UK loses access to SIS Il, we will be reliant on European partners putting data onto INTERPOL for dissemination to the UK. This is a matter for individual countries, however we have written to our European counterparts to advise that it may be prudent for them to dual circulate INTERPOL notices, particularly if someone is wanted and there is a possibility they may be in the UK.

16. In response, we expect to see a more targeted approach from European partners when they believe there is a UK connection. Countries may also decide to utilise other means of informing us in specific cases, such as through bilateral law enforcement channels. We will continue to monitor European partner usage of INTERPOL and bilateral channels, and will continue to engage with partners through our international network to encourage their use of these channels to share information with the UK.

EUROPOL INFORMATION SYSTEM

17. The Committee asked about continued access to Europol Information System (EIS), to which it is worth noting that no third countries have direct access. In a Non Negotiated Outcome, we will not have any access to EIS. In a Negotiated Outcome, we can ask Europol to upload UK entities and check EIS on our behalf. We do not believe that this would have a significant impact on operational capabilities. SEC0003

I hope this information is useful to you and the Home Affairs Committee.

Yours sincerely,

Steve Rodhouse

Director General Operations

December 2020