A central e-crime co-ordination unit could be entirely funded by the private sector despite having the backing of all 43 chief constables in England and Wales.

The proposed unit would oversee the reporting and investigation of cyber crimes and act as a replacement for the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, which was disbanded in April last year.

But no government funding has been allocated yet and businesses are being asked to foot the bill.

‘We have the go-ahead for the national unit, but this does not mean funding is in place,’ Sue Wilkinson, head of e-crime at the Association of Chief Police Officers, told a House of Lords committee last week.

‘I have no undertakings of government support, although I have not specifically asked for it yet, but we do have a plan.

‘Industry is ready with the money. Over the next few weeks I will pull that into the business case to show the Home Office.’

But there is concern that if the Home Office refuses to allocate any money, companies may be reluctant to invest.

It would not be the first time the private sector has funded criminal reporting units. The Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit was established in 2002 and is entirely funded by banking industry body Apacs.

Peter Sommer, research fellow at the London School of Economics, says lack of government funding raises serious questions about independence.

‘The people who fund these units have a duty to shareholders to chase prosecutions in cases in which they are particularly interested. If software firms fund the unit, there will be prosecutions for software licence infringements.’