Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness, value for money and implications for the police code of ethics of the practice of paying informants on the part of the police and security services.

Informants play an important role in the prevention and detection of crime, particularly in serious organised crime and terrorism investigations. The use of informants is subject to strict authorisation controls and oversight framework, as set out in the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Code of Practice.

The College of Policing’s Code of Ethics also makes clear that officers who authorise or perform covert policing roles must keep in mind at all times the principles and standards set out in the Code of Ethics. Remuneration to informants for information provided is an operational matter and it is for each law enforcement agency (LEA) to consider what is appropriate on a case-by-case basis. The use of these powers is overseen by the Surveillance Commissioner for the police and by the Intelligence Services Commissioner for the security and intelligence agencies.