NCJ Number
215589
Journal
Crime, Law & Social Change Volume: 44 Issue: 4-5 Dated: 2005 Pages: 423-440
Date Published
2005
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article examines the movement toward joined-up or integrated government in the United Kingdom.
Abstract
The idea of joined-up or integrated government is not new but is enjoying renewed interest due to the promotion of join-up government by the current Labour Government in the United Kingdom and the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States which exposed the chasms that had developed between the many governmental organizations charged with national security functions. Although the United Kingdom has not experienced terrorist attacks on the same scale as the United States, the government must still respond to the threat of terrorism. The logical response has been toward governmental integration. Attempts at increased governmental integration and law enforcement integration have thus become increasingly inevitable and apparent in the United Kingdom. The author discusses several UK initiatives to provide joined-up governance, including: (1) the Asset Recovery Agency, created to deal with money laundering and boasting expertise in law, training, performance, policy, civil recovery, and taxation; (2) the Serious Fraud Office, created to provide multidisciplinary team investigations of serious or complex frauds; and (3) the Serious and Organized Crime Agency, created through a convergence of multiple agencies to reduce harm to society by preventing, disrupting, and deterring serious and organized crime. As a result of these and other initiatives, including the proposal to regionalize English and Welsh police forces so that fraud and other specialized crime can be regionally investigated, the current counter-terrorism organizational structure in the United Kingdom is decidedly more integrated. The effort toward joining up has reached approximately the half-way point and additional organizational disruption and realignment can be expected, particularly if the United Kingdom views international terrorism as an intractable and enduring threat. 1 table, 38 notes