Memorandum from the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office
Further Information Requested Following the
Evidence Session on 26 January 200[4]
Q 240. Role of Government Departments and
others in respect of policing deployments to international missions?
CURRENT SITUATION
The FCO leads on current policy and on the budgetary
and operational management of the deployment of British civilian
police officers to international peacekeeping and post-conflict
missions. The International Policing and Civilian Placements Team
(IPCPT) in the International Security Directorate is currently
responsible for the recruitment, training, deployment and support
of approximately 255 serving and retired police officers.
The FCO has several key partners in this process,
including the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Northern
Ireland Office, the Scottish Executive, the Association of Chief
Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO),
the Association of Chief Police Officers of Scotland (ACPOS),
and individual civilian police forces.
The FCO contracts both serving and retired officers,
usually for six or 12 month periods. The FCO reimburses forces
for serving officers salaries and takes responsibility for the
payment of allowances, leave, leave flights, insurance and various
liabilities including third party, death in service and injury
liabilities. Retired civilian police officers are contracted on
a fixed term basis and receive identical training, allowances,
liability cover, welfare and support management serving officers.
Retired officers are contracted in order to assist in reaching
target numbers for deployment, and in many cases to bring specialised
professional skill sets and experience that may not be available
from the pool of serving volunteers.
Recruitment of police officers centres around
an annual exercise commencing in November when the FCO addresses
the Chief Constables and Human Resource departments of all police
forces. In addition to this annual exercise, recruitment takes
place throughout the year on an ad-hoc basis for individual
posts, most often for officers to fill key (high-ranking) posts
or positions calling for specialised skills. This is usually done
under the auspices of ACPO or ACPOS, who send out recruitment
calls to Chief Constables.
Prior to deployment, the FCO leads on logistics
funding and manages the provision of all uniform, hard and soft
kit and protective equipment required for individual missions.
The Home Office (Northern Ireland Office or Scottish Executive)
then issue all officers letters of approval for overseas service
under the relevant police acts.
The Ministry of Defence Police conducts medical
examinations immediately prior to predeployment training and assessment
courses. These courses are designed to ensure officers' safety
and security on deployment, and to enhance their ability to perform
effectively in the roles they are given. They consist of generic
duty of care subjects, training to work and live in hostile and
harsh environments, mission specific security, political and legal
briefings, and scenario based role training.
The FCO then manages the actual deployment of
officers to the missions, and works with the mission authorities
and British Contingent Commanders to ensure that officers receive
induction, hand-over and settlement assistance on arrival. This
has resulted in the production, working with the Home Office,
ACPO and ACPOS, of a best practice guide for forces' HR departments
for the support and assistance of officers deployed overseas.
The guide covers areas such as the appointment of a link officer
to co-ordinate health, welfare, salary, and career development
issues.
Once the officers have completed their secondment,
the lead for return and re-integration issues lies with home forces,
although the FCO again plays a major role. On return all officers
are first given four weeks leave, after which they attend a debriefing
course run by the FCO.
THE FUTURE
The FCO is conscious of the need to take a more
coherent "joined-up" approach to international policing.
The Strategic Task Force has been set up to address that concern.
It will seek to harmonise and enhance the interests and efforts
of all stakeholders with a direct interest in international policing,
identify how UK police forces can best add value, and produce
workable recommendations for implementation from August 2005 onwards.
The Task Force is a joined up Whitehall initiative;
its members comprise senior officials from Government departments
including the FCO, Home Office, MoD and DfID. Other members include
the Devolved Administrations, ACPO and ACPOS, Her Majesty's Inspectorate
of Constabularies, the Association of Police Authorities, the
Joint Doctrine and Concepts Centre, leading Chief Constables and
the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit (PCRU).
The Task Force's Work Plan for the next six
months will include substantive discussion on how the deployment
process can be improved. It is likely that the FCO will continue
in its current role in the immediate future, but forge close links
with the PCRU and others to address capability gaps, force generation
issues and identify priorities for the UK's contribution to international
policing. It is not yet clear whether, in the long-term, the responsibility
for managing the UK's contribution will remain within the FCO
or eventually transfer to the PCRU.
As the PCRU moves to initial capability by April
2005, and to full capability by April 2006, their role in international
policing, and the FCO's role in supporting that, will become better
defined. It seems at least likely that PCRU will help improve
deployment effectiveness by strengthening the interface between
military and civilian planning.
The Task Force will thus help shape the future
roles Government departments will play in international policing.
It represents a unique opportunity to agree a clear and structured
UK approach to international policing in support of UK foreign
policy and domestic policing objectives, and has the full support
of all relevant Government departments.
Q 302. Private Military Companies?
A senior FCO official, in close consultation
with colleagues from other Government Departments, has been conducting
a review of policy options for the regulation of Private Military
Companies. He has been examining in detail the value and feasibility
of a range of regulatory mechanisms; some of these relate to the
licensing of the companies themselves, and others to the licensing
of individual contracts. He is required to make recommendations
on what form a regulatory framework should take, precisely which
military/security activities it should cover, and how it should
operate and be enforced. He has also been asked to estimate the
resources required for effective operation and enforcement.
The reviewer is taking full account of the responses
to the consultation on the Green Paper of 2002. He is looking
in detail at the regulatory models provided by the Private Security
Act of 2001 and the Export Control Act of 2002. He is also examining
relevant foreign—particularly US and South African—legislation
and EU directives.
The review is now well underway and we plan
to put recommendations to Ministers within the next few weeks.
February 2005
4 Ev 31-55 Back
| 
