Clause 7 - Codes of practice
Criminal Justice Bill
4:30 pm
Mr Graham Allen (Nottingham North, Labour)
The amendments relate to parliamentary scrutiny of the codes of practice. Perhaps the Minister can reassure us about the possibility of effective parliamentary scrutiny. No doubt he has proposals on how to bring that about, and perhaps even some ideas on how parliamentary Committees could be involved. The amendments would provide that all changes to the codes of practice under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, whether subject to an affirmative resolution of Parliament or not, would be published online a month before being laid before Parliament.
The intention would be to obtain the views of practitioners—people at the coal face such as police officers—who would have access to the draft and would be able to make sensible comments on it. Those could be taken into account in the normal process of consultation that happens when such provisions are drafted. It is important to allow people access to the process, so that we can learn from their expertise and so that we do not have to keep on amending the PACE codes of practice. Having the documents online would be of great assistance.
Amendment No. 20 is based on the proposals of the Home Affairs Committee and the intention is that major revisions or additions would be subject to parliamentary approval. Knowing my hon. Friend the Minister's deep commitment to parliamentary accountability and scrutiny, I am sure that he will be able to advise us on the best way to proceed.