Policing and Crime Bill
12:00 pm
David Ruffley (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; Bury St Edmunds, Conservative)
May I ask again how these clauses will help the police service in practice? I have in mind clause 11 and related clauses, which firm up the powers of direction for Ministers. To make this real for people who are following the debate, the clauses give more centralised powers to Ministers. That need not of itself be a bad thing. I am not saying that all centralisation is bad because it clearly is not.
Would it be fair to say that you could use these powers to mandate what Sir Ronnie Flanagan correctly said in his interim report—not so much in the final report—that there should be a national suite of forms for the most frequently committed offences that officers can use with minimum reporting requirements? As you will recall, in the interim report, Sir Ronnie said that he expected the national suite of forms that would save police time to be drafted by the Association of Chief Police Officers and the National Police Improvement Network by July 2008. That has not happened. Would the powers in clause 11 and related clauses tempt you to mandate a national suite of forms and similar time-saving measures, which need an element of centralisation?