Clause 11
Policing and Crime Bill
1:00 pm
Vernon Coaker (Minister of State (Policing, Crime & Security), Home Office; Gedling, Labour)
My direct answer to the hon. Gentleman about whether the clause could be used to change or standardise forms is yes, we could do that if we chose to do so. To repeat our discussion this morning, what we try to do all the time is to move towards a position in which people did that voluntarily. We would only wish to intervene as a last resort, and examples would include a whole range of procedures and processes—police IT systems, service procurement and other back-office processes. At present, regulations can only be made for all forces, and they can be made in support of joint operations. The proposed change allows regulations to be made for smaller numbers of forces, which will give provide greater flexibility to what we may or may not require forces to do. I hope that answers the hon. Gentleman’s question.