Schedule 4 - Powers exercisable by police civilians
Police Reform Bill [Lords]
10:30 am
Mr Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath, Conservative)
On this occasion, my hon. Friend the Member for South-East Cambridgeshire, I and other Conservative Members agree more with the Minister than with the hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole (Mrs. Brooke). On many occasions, we have shared the views of Liberal Democrat Members in trying to amend the Bill, but, for the purely practical reasons that the Minister set out, the amendment would unduly hamper the work that such officers will be asked to do.
Those of us who, like me, have spent time working as a barrister, visiting cells and seeing the work of those carrying out detention and escort duties, believe that it is essential that people designated for such work have the opportunity to do searches properly, without being unduly hampered, both for their own protection and, as the Minister explained, for the preservation of law and order more generally. Although we understand entirely the genuine motivation of the hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole in tabling the amendment, on this occasion, we cannot support her because we agree with the Minister.