Eight staff in the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) e-crime department have left the organisation in the past four months amid concerns over the operation of the unit.

When Soca was set up on in April 2006 the department had more than 65 e-crime staff – differing accounts now put the size of the department at either 45 and 58 personnel, depending on conflicting definitions of 'staff'.

Current and former Soca employees say the recent spate of departures are a result of unfair pay structures, a lack of technical knowledge among managers and a lack of focus on the remit of the e-crime function.

‘Secretaries are being paid more than people with 30 years’ experience as technical investigators. There seemed to be no drive and no recognition that you had a particular skill set that might be useful,’ said a source close to the unit.

Soca says it is taking a long-term approach, identifying patterns of crime rather than individual cases. But sources claim employee dissatisfaction will affect performance.

‘The key problem is that managers have no technical expertise. The senior management of Soca e-crime are from firearms. They have no knowledge of the area. The department doesn’t operate efficiently. Staff have been leaving because they’ve had enough,’ said a former e-crime employee.

Soca’s computer forensics department has dropped from seven staff to two for the same reasons, and much work is being outsourced to private contractors.

‘Our officials are aware of staff concerns within Soca,’ said a spokesman for PCS, the trade union that represents more than half of Soca’s employees.

‘Issues raised by Soca staff will be taken forward in a dialogue with the senior management.’

Soca declined to comment on staffing issues. The e-crime unit has faced questions over its remit since the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) was absorbed into the agency, severing links with businesses and local forces.

The Metropolitan Police announced last week that its proposed National E-crime Coordination Unit, which will take on the NHTCU’s former role of coordinating the response to cybercrime across all police forces, will need funding of £4.5m annually, less than one-fifth of the budget allocated to the old NHTCU.