Crime and Policing Act 2026

Prospective

175 Section 173: interpretation U.K.

(1) In section 173—

(a) “enforcement officer” means a person listed in the first column of the following table, and

(b) “senior officer”, in respect of an enforcement officer, means a person listed in the corresponding entry in the second column of the table.

Enforcement officer	Senior officer
a constable of a police force in England and Wales	a constable of at least the rank of inspector
a constable within the meaning of Part 1 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 (asp 8) (see section 99 of that Act)	a constable of at least the rank of inspector
a police officer within the meaning of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 (see section 77(1) of that Act)	a police officer of at least the rank of inspector
an officer appointed by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland under section 56(1) or (1A) of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998	an officer of at least the rank of inspector
a member of a civilian police staff	a constable of at least the rank of inspector
a constable of the British Transport Police Force	a constable of at least the rank of inspector
a constable of the Ministry of Defence police	a constable of at least the rank of inspector
a member of the Royal Navy Police or any other person who is under the direction and control of the Provost Marshal of the Royal Navy Police	a member of the Royal Navy Police of at least the rank of lieutenant
a member of the Royal Military Police or any other person who is under the direction and control of the Provost Marshal of the Royal Military Police	a member of the Royal Military Police of at least the rank of captain
a member of the Royal Air Force Police or any other person who is under the direction and control of the Provost Marshal of the Royal Air Force Police	a member of the Royal Air Force Police of at least the rank of flight lieutenant
a member of the tri-service serious crime unit described in section 375(1A) of the Armed Forces Act 2006 or any other person who is under the direction and control of the Provost Marshal for serious crime	a member of the Royal Navy Police, Royal Military Police or Royal Air Force Police of at least the rank of lieutenant, captain or flight lieutenant
a National Crime Agency officer	a National Crime Agency officer of grade 3 or above
an officer of Revenue and Customs	an officer of Revenue and Customs of at least the grade of higher officer
a member of the Serious Fraud Office	a member of the Serious Fraud Office of grade 7 or above
a person appointed as an immigration officer under paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971	an immigration officer of at least the rank of chief immigration officer
an officer of the department of the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, so far as relating to the Insolvency Service	an officer of the department of the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, so far as relating to the Insolvency Service, of grade 7 or above
an officer of the department of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care authorised to conduct investigations on behalf of the Secretary of State	an officer of the department of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care authorised to conduct investigations on behalf of the Secretary of State of grade 7 or above
an officer of the NHS Counter Fraud Authority	an officer of the NHS Counter Fraud Authority of at least pay band 8b

(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations amend the table in subsection (1)—

(a) so as to add a reference to a person,

(b) so as to remove a reference to a person, or

(c) so as to modify a description of a person mentioned in that table.

(3) In section 173—

• “crime” means—

  (a)

  conduct which constitutes one or more criminal offences in any part of the United Kingdom, or

  (b)

  conduct which, if it took place in any part of the United Kingdom, would constitute one or more criminal offences;

• “criminal offence” includes—

  (a)

  a service offence within the meaning of the Armed Forces Act 2006, and

  (b)

  an SDA offence within the meaning of the Armed Forces Act 2006 (Transitional Provisions etc) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/1059);

• “involvement in foreign power threat activity” has the same meaning as in Part 2 of the National Security Act 2023 (see section 62(1) of that Act);

• “involvement in terrorism-related activity” has the same meaning as in the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011 (see section 4 of that Act);

• “terrorism” has the same meaning as in the Terrorism Act 2000 (see section 1(1) to (4) of that Act).

(4) References in section 173 to an electronic device which has been lawfully seized include—

(a) a device possession of which has been taken under—

(i) section 448(3) of the Companies Act 1985;

(ii) section 2(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987;

(b) a device which has been produced in compliance with—

(i) a notice under section 2(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987;

(ii) a notice under section 197 of the National Health Service Act 2006.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 175 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 255(1)