Clause 11 - Complaints, matters and persons
Police Reform Bill [Lords]
3:45 pm
Mr Ian Lucas (Wrexham, Labour)
It is not necessary to consider the description of the person involved. The important
point is the power that that person exercises. The powers that we discussed this morning are those of detention and escort. Those powers will be exercised by the community support officer, who will be employed by the police authority. They will also be exercised by people employed by third-party contractors. That is why they fall within the remit of the IPCC. If something does not need fixing, why change the current system? Environmental health officers exercise similar powers effectively and have not fallen within the remit of the Police Complaints Authority before. There is no reason to change that.