NCA barred and advisory lists start in September 2026

Dense regulations can look dry on the page, but this one is really about a plain question of trust: if someone in the National Crime Agency is dismissed for serious misconduct, or leaves while serious allegations are hanging over them, how is that recorded? The National Crime Agency Barred List and National Crime Agency Advisory List Regulations 2026 answer that by setting the rules for two official lists. The statutory instrument says the regulations were made on 6 July 2026, laid before Parliament on 13 July 2026 and will come into force on 21 September 2026. They apply across England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so this is a UK-wide framework for the NCA rather than a local policy tucked away inside one office.

If you are trying to remember the difference, start with the barred list. It is the tougher of the two. The Director General of the NCA must place certain people on it where the legal conditions in the Crime and Policing Act 2026 are met, and the list has to carry more than just a name. The regulations say the barred list must include a person’s full name and date of birth, whether they were an NCA officer or a former NCA officer, and, where relevant, their grade or last grade and staff number. It must also record the reason for the dismissal or finding, a description of the conduct involved, whether that conduct went against NCA standards, and the date of the dismissal or finding. If the person was first placed on the advisory list, that earlier date must be recorded too, along with whether they resigned or retired.

**What this means:** this is not a name-only register. The rules are built around traceability. The NCA is required to keep enough detail for the case to make sense later, and for serious conduct issues not to disappear into a vague personnel record. That matters because public institutions are often criticised when someone seems to leave under a cloud and then quietly turns up elsewhere. A barred list is meant to make that harder. It keeps a formal record of what happened and why, which is one way of protecting standards inside law enforcement.

The advisory list is different, and the difference matters. It is not the same as a formal bar. Instead, it covers people who resigned or retired in the circumstances set out in Schedule 25 to the Crime and Policing Act 2026. You can see the shape of those cases from the information the regulations require. For each person on the advisory list, the NCA must record their full name and date of birth, plus their grade, staff number, whether they resigned or retired, and the date they left. The regulations also require a summary of the relevant allegation. In some cases, the list must record the form of disciplinary proceedings that had already been brought. In others, it must record when the allegation first came to the attention of the Director General. Read simply, the advisory list is there to flag people who left while serious concerns were still in play.

The rules also explain how someone can come off the barred list. Some situations are straightforward. If a court or tribunal leads to the person being reinstated or re-engaged as an NCA officer, the Director General must remove them from the list. The same applies if a court or tribunal finds that the dismissal was unfair. If the NCA becomes aware that the person has died, their name must also be removed. There is also a longer route back. After five years on the barred list, a person can apply to be removed. The application has to be made in the form set by the Director General, and the person can send any information or documents they think support their case.

When the Director General considers an application to leave the barred list, the regulations say three things must be weighed. First, whether the person has shown they are suitable to be employed or otherwise appointed by a law enforcement employer. Second, the circumstances that led to the dismissal or finding in the first place. Third, the effect that removing them would have on public confidence in the NCA. The Director General can ask for more information before deciding, and must notify the person within five working days of the decision. If the application fails, a further application can be blocked until a set date, which can be as much as five years later. **What this means:** the barred list is not automatically permanent, but it is clearly designed to be difficult to leave without strong evidence and the passage of time.

The advisory list has its own removal route, and it follows a similar pattern. After five years on the list, a person can apply to be removed. They must use the form and process set by the Director General, and they can provide documents or other material they believe are relevant. The Director General may ask for more information before deciding, and must give notice within five working days once the decision has been made. If the application is dismissed, the Director General can again set a date, up to five years ahead, before another application may be made. As with the barred list, the regulations also say that a person must be removed once the NCA becomes aware that they have died. One useful point for readers is this: the barred list rules spell out a more detailed test for removal, which tells you that the law treats it as the more serious category.

The regulations were signed by Home Office minister Angela Eagle, and the statutory instrument says the Secretary of State consulted the Scottish Ministers before making them. The explanatory note also says no full impact assessment was produced because no significant effect on the private, voluntary or public sector was expected. That final line can make this all sound administrative, but the public issue is bigger than paperwork. Public bodies do not just need misconduct rules; they need memory. A barred list says who should not quietly move back into law enforcement after serious findings. An advisory list says which departures still carry unresolved concerns that should follow the file. For all the technical language, that is the lesson here: standards are not only about making decisions, but about keeping a clear record of them.