Clause 2 - Codes of practice for chief officers
Police Reform Bill [Lords]
11:00 am
Mr James Paice (South East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 111, in page 3, line 29, at end insert
', subject however to the views of the police authority and his own judgement as to what is effective and efficient in the area in which that function is to be discharged.'.
The clause introduces codes of practice for chief officers. There was considerable debate in the other place when the clause as originally drafted was introduced by the Government. I am pleased to say that as a result of those debates and many amendments tabled by my right hon. and hon. Friends and spokesmen for the Liberal Democrats and other parties, the Government introduced their own amendments, and the clause is now much better. It would have been unacceptable in its original form. A lot of consultation is now included, and the concerns of ACPO and other police representative bodies have been taken into account.
However, one concern remains, which relates to the last sentence in the new section provided for by the clause. New subsection (7) says:
''In discharging any function to which a code of practice under this section relates, a chief officer of police shall have regard to the code.''
When it was debated in the other place, Lord Rooker twice made a point about the codes of practice, and I am sure that he was right. He said:
''They are not binding on the chief constable.''—[Official Report, House of Lords, 5 March 2002; Vol. 632, c. 136.]
On 28 February, he referred to the fact that he had written a long letter to many Lords in response to concerns about the centralising aspects of the Bill. The letter, he said, referred to
''guidance which is purely advisory''.—[Official Report, House of Lords, 28 February 2002; Vol. 631, c. 1581.]
There is no doubt that the Government intend that the implementation of codes of practice should be discretionary, but there is concern about the phrase ''shall have regard to'' and precisely how much power it will give to a Secretary of State, considering the other powers in the Bill, to intervene if a police chief constable decides not to do something along the lines of the code of practice.