The Serious Organised Crime Agency’s (Soca’s) e-crime unit has fewer staff and half the budget of its forerunner, the National HiTech Crime Unit (NHTCU).

Computing has learned that the unit receives approximately £4.5m funding annually, less than half of the £9.3m spent on the NHTCU. And in January this year the agency had 51 e-crime staff ­ compared with 54 employed at its predecessor’s peak.

When the NHTCU was rolled into Soca in April 2006 the fight against cyber crime was dealt a major blow, said shadow home secretary David Davis.

“This left a yawning gap in our operational law enforcement capability dedicated to cyber crime,” he said.

Financial services firms and other key organisations in the critical national infrastructure have consistently criticised the loss of the NHTCU.

Many of the criticisms of Soca have been rooted in its secrecy.

But last month, Soca head of e-crime Sharon Lemon told Computing that the agency had been reviewing its industry contacts with the aim of re-establishing links and sharing more information ­ a move the private sector awaits eagerly.

Sources close to the organisation say that direct comparisons between Soca and the NHTCU are disingenuous because the new e-crime team performs a wider supporting role for other Soca investigations.

But on such a reduced budget Soca e-crime cannot be expected to perform a supporting role as well as conduct its own investigations and liaise with business, said Peter Sommer, e-crime expert at the London School of Economics.

“Digital evidence is very common in narcotics trafficking and other forms of serious villainy ­ the budget is not enough to cover all bases,” he said.

It has also emerged that since April 2006, Soca e-crime has concluded nine operations and passed papers to prosecutors in this country and abroad which have resulted in the conviction of 15 people. But sources close to the organisation claim that all of these operations were begun by the NHTCU.

The Home Office has yet to make a decision on funding a proposed central e-crime co-ordination unit designed to ease the pressure on Soca.

Soca declined to comment.