Schedule 5 - Powers exercisable by accredited persons
Police Reform Bill [Lords]
12:30 pm
Mr Norman Baker (Lewes, Liberal Democrat)
It would be churlish not to welcome the Government's change of policy; they have deleted their proposal to give accredited officers the power of detention. Their previous position was wrong, and I give them credit for changing it.
However, there is an inconsistency in the present situation. We are giving the power to require someone to supply their name and address, but we are not giving any means to achieve that. Therefore, it is a power which cannot be enforced, which might lead to the system—and the officers concerned—being brought into disrepute. If someone were to say ''No'' to an officer and then walk away, that person could not be compelled to do anything. That would be an invidious position to put an accredited officers into.