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Police Training and Complaints
3.31 pm
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Charles Clarke): With permission, Madam Speaker, I shall make a statement on two important developments that will help to improve the effectiveness of the police and their accountability to the communities that they serve.
The first announcement relates to the handling of complaints against the police. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is publishing this afternoon a feasibility study of an independent police complaints system. The study was commissioned from the management consultants KPMG in order to take forward recommendations made by the Select Committee on Home Affairs in its report on police disciplinary and complaints procedures, and by Sir William Macpherson's report on the Stephen Lawrence inquiry. The human rights organisation Liberty is also publishing today an independent report on its vision for the future police complaints system, and I welcome Liberty's constructive contribution to the debate on the police complaints system.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has previously indicated his sympathy for the principle of an independent system for investigating complaints against the police, and both the KPMG and Liberty reports contain constructive ideas on how that might work in practice. We do not, at this stage, have a preferred model for a new complaints system, but we are clear that if any reform of the current system is to command public confidence, it must involve a greater independent element in the investigation of complaints and greater openness in respect of the result of those investigations.
We are also publishing a consultation paper this afternoon to invite comments on the key issues raised by the KPMG and Liberty reports. That paper is being placed in the Library of the House, along with the two reports. The consultation period will run until 30 June, and in the light of the comments received, we intend to announce by the end of the year more detailed proposals on the way forward.
We are also announcing today a wide range of measures to improve the quality and effectiveness of police training in England and Wales, with a view to improving efficiency, using the most modern training techniques, and strengthening police relations with the communities that they serve and with victims of crime.
On 18 November last year we published a consultation paper that set out ambitious proposals. We want to ensure high quality profession-long training for all police staff. We will put in place common national standards for all staff, which will ensure consistency of service to the public. We want to ensure that police training--which already enjoys a well deserved international reputation--is truly world class.
Training is at the heart of effective and responsive policing. Virtually all those who responded to the consultation paper welcomed the fact that training was being examined and debated. The majority of responses broadly welcomed the proposals. In a Home Office paper available in the Library of the House, I have set out the main comments on each element of the proposals and how we plan to take these measures forward.
We will streamline the existing police training council so that it can advise the Home Secretary more effectively. We will work with the Association of Chief Police
Officers, the Association of Police Authorities and the relevant staff associations to establish a new police national training organisation to promote skills within the service. A central police college, building on the work done by national police training, will be established. It will be a centre of excellence within the police service and will act as a standard on both the national and international stage.We will set a mandatory curriculum and qualifications framework, in consultation with the key stakeholders, which will support the achievement of common standards and profession-long learning and recognition. Regional collaboration between forces on training, driven by best value, will maximise the use of resources and ensure that best practice is shared. We will work with forces to ensure that the opportunities to be gained from greater use of IT and of joint training with other services can be fully realised.
Chief officers and police authorities will produce annual plans to ensure the continuous development of all staff. A dedicated training inspectorate, headed by a lay inspector, will be created within Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary to support and monitor quality assurance. Finally, the existing powers of the Home Secretary will be strengthened where necessary, to ensure that the new arrangements will deliver real improvements.
There are numerous examples of excellence in police training at present. The measures that we are announcing today are an ambitious programme of work to build on this good practice where it exists and secure changes where they are necessary.
Mr. Oliver Heald (North-East Hertfordshire): I begin by thanking the Minister for giving me early sight of the statement. He will understand that the Opposition will want to comment in more detail in due course on the documents that he has produced.
The Minister will know that the Police Federation and others have called for a fully independent complaints authority. The Opposition support that in principle, but does he agree that it is vital that any system should command the support not just of the public, but of the police at all levels?
The Minister referred to reports from KPMG and from Liberty. Those documents suggest some very different solutions to important issues. For example, KPMG suggests that most complaints would still be investigated by the police, but that a few high-profile cases would be investigated by an independent agency. In contrast, Liberty suggests many more independent investigations. What is the Minister's view on that crucial issue, which is vital to the proposal?
KPMG suggests that the independent agency teams conducting the independent investigations would include police officers, whereas Liberty proposes a team that is basically civilian. Does the Minister accept that suggestions in the media that people such as journalists might conduct the investigations raise important issues of natural justice? Would not it be more proper to use trained investigators with experience of investigation for that purpose?
Is not it crucial that the new agency should be led by people who are seen to be genuinely impartial, and not by people who have particular axes to grind? Does the
Minister agree that investigations should be conducted in a highly professional and effective manner, and that the agency should operate in the same way?The Commission for Racial Equality has proposed recently that it should investigate allegations of racist conduct by officers. Is there not a danger that that could lead to two investigations of each complaint? Would not it be better if the new independent agency dealt with all such cases?
Does the Minister agree that the consultation period, which ends on 30 June, is very short, given the seriousness and complexity of the issue? Is he prepared to reconsider the length of that period?
We welcome the commitment to improved training, but paragraph 7 of the consultation paper states simply that the aim will be to build
- a portfolio of skills, knowledge and understanding . . .
The Minister spoke of consulting the key stakeholders about the curriculum, but who does he mean? The consultation document talks about regional collaboration. Will he confirm that that is not a step down the road to regional policing? What assurances can he give us about that?
What assurances can the Minister give that police officers will be able to take up these opportunities? With 2,500 fewer officers in Britain now than at the time of the general election, the number of specials down by 3,500, and the sort of crisis that the Police Federation described this week, can policemen be spared from the front line?
Last autumn, the so-called Milburn letter stated that training facilities for the police would be fully stretched in dealing with new recruits. How can the extensive additional training that the Minister proposes today be accomplished?
Although the complaints procedure and training are important, the public will be bewildered because the Government have not made a statement to say that they will restore police numbers to the level that they inherited, explain how they will deal with the rising tide of crime and back the PC on the beat in his job. The uniformed officer is the bedrock of the police service.
Mr. Clarke: I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman's support in principle for an independent complaints system. We welcome that.
The hon. Gentleman's first point was about the extent of independence. As he said, the two reports have different orientations. It is helpful that they have been published together so that we can consider the issues fully. Like both studies, we accept that it is not feasible for the independent body to investigate every complaint. Independent investigation should concentrate on the most serious complaints, which are likely to cover deaths in police custody, police shootings and other cases that involve possibly serious criminal offences.
I agree with the hon. Gentleman's comments about the importance of retaining the confidence of the police throughout the process. He knows that both inquiries consulted the police widely and included representation from the police, whose approach has been very positive.
The hon. Gentleman is right that the process must be highly professional, and must be seen to be impartial. It is important to meld those two aspects. The reports suggest doing that in slightly different ways. That is why we are consulting on the points that we outlined.Racist conduct should be tackled by the police complaints process, as it is now. It will be tackled in the overall approach that we described. I agree that there is no case for a further, separate investigatory process.
The consultation period is not too short. We held substantial discussions in the build-up to the reports, the results of which have been published. All the main interests considered the issues and expressed views. Most of the country--and the police--want to reach a resolution about how to progress as rapidly as possible. That is why I am keen to be in a position to announce conclusions by the end of this year.
The hon. Gentleman mentioned training. The "portfolio of skills" contains practical skills for policing. He made a snide remark about AS-level in sociology--a somewhat alien concept. Yesterday, we both attended the Police Federation conference in Brighton, and serious training for serious police skills was a high priority there. That is what we recommend.
The stakeholders are principally the police, but also communities and other elements in the criminal justice system. Regional collaboration is important because it will provide better value, but it is not a stalking horse for regional police forces.
The hon. Gentleman mentioned officers' take-up and made his usual point about police numbers, but I am dealing with training today. That is the way in which I intend to address the problem.
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