Clause 5 - X-rays and ultrasound scans: England and Wales
Drugs Bill
9:45 am
Mr Henry Bellingham (Shadow Minister, Economic Affairs; North West Norfolk, Conservative)
I support my hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham, the shadow Minister, because the clause does not give sufficient recognition to patterns of modern policing. In my constituency the Norfolk constabulary is setting up a number of outlying beat stations, most of which come under the command of a duty sergeant. There is an inspector in the area command, who is often on duty, but we all know that policing is becoming far more flexible and fleet of foot, and less rigid. The Minister surely appreciates that. It is a mistake for the Government to tell modern police forces to respond to the demands that they face with more flexibility, while they legislate to make the system more rigid.
The Minister should recognise, too, that in many rural police forces dozens of police constables and sergeants have up to 25 or 30 years' experience. Often the beat officers in rural areas are constables or sergeants with great experience who know their area inside out and are responsible people. Of course, they would contact the area commander and discuss the situation, but problems may arise if the clause is not altered. Can the reasonable grounds held by
''an officer of at least the rank of inspector''
under the clause be simply seeing a report from a police constable in a beat station? I do not know. That could be subject to legal challenge, in my opinion. We must make it clear that we want to deal with a serious problem.