Session 2010 - 11
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Report Stage Proceedings: 30 March 2011                  

466

 

Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, continued

 
 

“quota of members” means the number of members calculated by adding

 

one to the number of extra members of the panel which the authority has

 

power to appoint under the panel arrangements (see paragraph 5(2)).

 

Appointment after nomination by local authority

 

9    (1)  

This paragraph applies where a relevant local authority makes a nomination

 

under paragraph 6, 7 or 8.

 

      (2)  

If the nominee accepts the nomination, the relevant local authority may

 

appoint the nominated councillor as a member of the panel.

 

      (3)  

If the nominee does not accept the nomination, the relevant local authority may

 

nominate another of its councillors to be a member of the police and crime

 

panel (and sub-paragraph (2) or this sub-paragraph applies accordingly, as if

 

the nomination were made under paragraph 6, 7 or 8).

 

Failure of local authority to appoint member: nomination and appointment by Secretary

 

of State

 

10  (1)  

This paragraph applies if the Secretary of State is satisfied that—

 

(a)    

the number of appointed members of a police and crime panel is less

 

than the full complement, and

 

(b)    

a relevant local authority (the “defaulting local authority”)—

 

(i)    

has failed to nominate or appoint one or more of its

 

councillors as members of the panel in accordance with

 

paragraphs 6 and 9, paragraphs 7 and 9, or paragraphs 8 and

 

9, or

 

(ii)    

does not have power to make such a nomination and

 

appointment because of paragraph 6(3), 7(3) or 8(4).

 

      (2)  

The Secretary of State must nominate the appropriate number of persons who

 

are councillors of relevant local authorities to be members of the police and

 

crime panel.

 

      (3)  

Sub-paragraph (4) or (5) applies in relation to each nomination which the

 

Secretary of State is required to make under sub-paragraph (2).

 

      (4)  

If the nominee accepts the nomination, the Secretary of State must appoint the

 

nominated councillor as a member of the panel.

 

      (5)  

If the nominee does not accept the nomination, the Secretary of State must

 

nominate another person who is a councillor of a relevant local authority to be

 

a member of the police and crime panel (and sub-paragraph (4) or this sub-

 

paragraph applies accordingly, as if the nomination were made under sub-

 

paragraph (2)).

 

      (6)  

In complying with this paragraph in relation to the police and crime panel for

 

a multi-authority police area, the Secretary of State must secure (as far as is

 

reasonably practicable) that the fair representation objective is met.

 

      (7)  

The “fair representation objective” referred to in sub-paragraph (6) is—

 

(a)    

in the case of a police area which covers ten or more local authorities,

 

the objective that each relevant local authority has only one of its

 

councillors as a member of the panel;

 

(b)    

in the case of a police area which covers nine or fewer local

 

authorities, the objective that each relevant local authority has at least

 

one of its councillors as a member of the panel.

 

      (8)  

If the Secretary of State—

 

(a)    

is satisfied that a relevant local authority has failed to nominate or

 

appoint one or more of its councillors as members of the panel as

 

mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(b), and


 
 

Report Stage Proceedings: 30 March 2011                  

467

 

Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, continued

 
 

(b)    

is considering whether to exercise, has decided to exercise, or has

 

exercised, the power under this paragraph to make a nomination,

 

            

the Secretary of State may give the authority notice that the Secretary of State

 

is satisfied as mentioned in paragraph (a) of this sub-paragraph.

 

      (9)  

A notice given under sub-paragraph (8) may be withdrawn by the Secretary of

 

State at any time.

 

    (10)  

For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b)(i), it is irrelevant that a relevant local

 

authority which has failed to nominate or appoint a councillor as a member of

 

the panel—

 

(a)    

may have power under any of paragraphs 6 to 9 to make a further

 

nomination; or

 

(b)    

is complying with, or has complied with, the panel arrangements

 

relating to that panel.

 

    (11)  

In this paragraph—

 

“appropriate number” means the number that is equal to the difference

 

between—

 

(e)    

the full complement; and

 

(f)    

the number of appointed members of the panel;

 

“full complement” means the number of appointed members which the

 

panel is to have by virtue of paragraph 4(1)(a).

 

Costs of the panel

 

11  (1)  

This paragraph applies to a multi-authority panel.

 

      (2)  

The panel arrangements must make provision about—

 

(a)    

how the relevant local authorities are to meet the costs of the panel;

 

and

 

(b)    

insofar as the provision is necessary, how funds paid (whether by the

 

Secretary of State or otherwise) to meet the costs of the panel are to be

 

paid to, or distributed between, the relevant local authorities.

 

Part 3

 

Panels established by the Secretary of State

 

Establishment and maintenance of panels

 

12  (1)  

This Part of this Schedule applies in relation to—

 

(a)    

each police area in Wales, and

 

(b)    

each police area in England in relation to which an order under

 

paragraph 1(2) has effect.

 

      (2)  

The Secretary of State must—

 

(a)    

establish and maintain a separate police and crime panel for each

 

police area to which this Part of this Schedule applies, and

 

(b)    

make the panel arrangements (see paragraph 23) for each police and

 

crime panel established and maintained in accordance with this

 

paragraph.

 

      (3)  

The Secretary of State may make different panel arrangements for different

 

police and crime panels.

 

      (4)  

In the following provisions of this Part of this Schedule, a reference to a police

 

and crime panel is a reference to a panel established and maintained in

 

accordance with this paragraph.


 
 

Report Stage Proceedings: 30 March 2011                  

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Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, continued

 
 

Membership and status

 

13  (1)  

A police and crime panel for a police area is to consist of the following

 

members—

 

(a)    

the relevant number of persons appointed by the Secretary of State as

 

members of the panel; and

 

(b)    

two members co-opted by the panel.

 

      (2)  

For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), the “relevant number” is—

 

(a)    

ten (if the police area covers ten or fewer local authorities); or

 

(b)    

the number that is equal to the number of local authorities which the

 

police area covers (if the police area covers eleven or more local

 

authorities).

 

      (3)  

A police and crime panel is not a committee or joint committee of any local

 

authority or local authorities.

 

Wales: persons appointed by the Secretary of State as members of panels

 

14         

In this Part of this Schedule, a reference to a person appointed by the Secretary

 

of State as a member of a Welsh police and crime panel is a reference to—

 

(a)    

a person nominated by a relevant local authority to be a member of the

 

panel, and appointed by the Secretary of State as a member of the

 

panel, in accordance with paragraph 16(2) to (4)(a), or

 

(b)    

a person nominated by the Secretary of State to be a member of the

 

panel, and appointed by the Secretary of State as a member of the

 

panel, in accordance with paragraph 16(4)(b) to (6).

 

Wales: Secretary of State to ask local authorities to nominate members of panels

 

15  (1)  

This paragraph applies in relation to a Welsh police and crime panel if the

 

Secretary of State is satisfied that the number of appointed members of the

 

panel is less than the full complement.

 

      (2)  

In the case of a police and crime panel for a single-authority police area, the

 

Secretary of State must ask the relevant local authority to nominate the

 

appropriate number of the authority’s councillors to be members of the panel.

 

      (3)  

In the case of a police and crime panel for a multi-authority police area, the

 

Secretary of State must—

 

(a)    

decide which of the relevant local authorities to ask to make

 

nominations under this sub-paragraph (the “nominating authorities”);

 

(b)    

decide what number of nominations under this sub-paragraph each

 

nominating authority is to be asked to make; and

 

(c)    

ask each nominating authority to nominate that number of the

 

authority’s councillors to be members of the panel.

 

      (4)  

In complying with sub-paragraph (3), the Secretary of State must secure—

 

(a)    

that the number of nominations which the nominating authority or

 

authorities are asked to make (when taken together) is equal to the

 

appropriate number; and

 

(b)    

that (as far as is reasonably practicable) the fair representation

 

objective is met.

 

      (5)  

The “fair representation objective” referred to in sub-paragraph (4)(b) is—

 

(a)    

in the case of a police area which covers ten or more local authorities,

 

the objective that each relevant local authority has only one of its

 

councillors as a member of the panel;


 
 

Report Stage Proceedings: 30 March 2011                  

469

 

Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, continued

 
 

(b)    

in the case of a police area which covers nine or fewer local

 

authorities, the objective that each relevant local authority has at least

 

one of its councillors as a member of the panel.

 

      (6)  

In this paragraph—

 

“appropriate number” means the number that is equal to the difference

 

between—

 

(g)    

the full complement; and

 

(h)    

the number of appointed members of the panel;

 

“full complement” means the number of appointed members which the

 

panel is to have by virtue of paragraph 13(1)(a).

 

Wales: consequences of Secretary of State asking local authorities to make nominations

 

16  (1)  

This paragraph applies if, under paragraph 15, the Secretary of State asks a

 

relevant local authority to nominate a councillor to be a member of a Welsh

 

police and crime panel.

 

      (2)  

The authority may make the nomination.

 

      (3)  

If the authority makes the nomination, and the nominee accepts the

 

nomination, the Secretary of State must appoint the nominated councillor as a

 

member of the police and crime panel.

 

      (4)  

If the authority fails to make the nomination, or the nominee does not accept

 

the nomination, the Secretary of State must either—

 

(a)    

ask the authority to make another nomination (and sub-paragraph (2),

 

and sub-paragraph (3) or this sub-paragraph, apply accordingly, as if

 

the request were made under paragraph 15); or

 

(b)    

nominate a person who is a councillor of a relevant local authority to

 

be a member of the police and crime panel.

 

      (5)  

If the nominee accepts a nomination made under sub-paragraph (4)(b), the

 

Secretary of State must appoint the nominated councillor as a member of the

 

panel.

 

      (6)  

If the nominee does not accept the nomination, the Secretary of State must

 

nominate another person who is a councillor of a relevant local authority to be

 

a member of the police and crime panel (and sub-paragraph (5) or this sub-

 

paragraph applies accordingly, as if the nomination were made under sub-

 

paragraph (4)(b)).

 

England: persons appointed by the Secretary of State as members of panels

 

17         

In this Part of this Schedule, a reference to a person appointed by the Secretary

 

of State as a member of an English police and crime panel is a reference to a

 

person who has been appointed by the Secretary of State as a member of the

 

panel in accordance with paragraph 18.

 

England: nomination and appointment of members of panels by Secretary of State

 

18  (1)  

This paragraph applies in relation to an English police and crime panel if the

 

Secretary of State is satisfied that the number of appointed members of the

 

panel is less than the full complement.

 

      (2)  

The Secretary of State must nominate the appropriate number of persons who

 

are councillors of relevant local authorities to be members of the police and

 

crime panel.

 

      (3)  

Sub-paragraph (4) or (5) applies in relation to each nomination which the

 

Secretary of State is required to make under sub-paragraph (2).

 

      (4)  

If the nominee accepts the nomination, the Secretary of State must appoint the

 

nominated councillor as a member of the panel.


 
 

Report Stage Proceedings: 30 March 2011                  

470

 

Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, continued

 
 

      (5)  

If the nominee does not accept the nomination, the Secretary of State must

 

nominate another person who is a councillor of a relevant local authority to be

 

a member of the police and crime panel (and sub-paragraph (4) or this sub-

 

paragraph applies accordingly, as if the nomination were made under sub-

 

paragraph (2)).

 

      (6)  

In this paragraph—

 

“appropriate number” means the number that is equal to the difference

 

between—

 

(i)    

the full complement; and

 

(j)    

the number of appointed members of the panel;

 

“full complement” means the number of appointed members which the

 

panel is to have by virtue of paragraph 13(1)(a).

 

Liabilities of panels

 

19  (1)  

All relevant liabilities relating to a police and crime panel are liabilities of the

 

Secretary of State (and accordingly are not liabilities of any member of the

 

panel).

 

      (2)  

Any expense incurred by a member of a police and crime panel—

 

(a)    

in respect of a relevant liability, or

 

(b)    

otherwise in the exercise of, or purported exercise of, a function of the

 

panel,

 

            

is to be borne and repaid by the Secretary of State.

 

      (3)  

In this paragraph “relevant liability” means a liability which, but for this

 

paragraph, would be a liability of a member of a police and crime panel

 

(whether personally or as a member of that panel) in respect of anything done

 

by—

 

(a)    

that person in the exercise, or purported exercise, of a function of a

 

member of the panel,

 

(b)    

any other member of the panel in the exercise, or purported exercise,

 

of a function of a member of the panel, or

 

(c)    

the panel in the exercise, or purported exercise, of a function of the

 

panel.

 

Provision of financial and other resources

 

20  (1)  

The Secretary of State may provide financial and other resources—

 

(a)    

to a police and crime panel in connection with the exercise of the

 

panel’s functions;

 

(b)    

to the members of a police and crime panel in connection with the

 

exercise of their functions; and

 

(c)    

to one or more of the relevant local authorities covered by a police area

 

in connection with the exercise of functions by—

 

(i)    

such an authority in relation to the police and crime panel for

 

that police area,

 

(ii)    

that panel, or

 

(iii)    

the members of that panel.

 

      (2)  

The Secretary of State may provide financial or other resources under sub-

 

paragraph (1) subject to conditions.

 

      (3)  

In the case of resources provided under sub-paragraph (1)(c), the conditions

 

which may be imposed include conditions requiring a relevant local authority

 

to pass resources to, or share resources with, another relevant local authority.


 
 

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Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, continued

 
 

      (4)  

The power under this paragraph to provide resources is in addition to the duty

 

under paragraph 19(2).

 

Part 4

 

General provisions

 

Restrictions on membership of panel

 

21         

The police and crime commissioner for a police area may not be a member of

 

the police and crime panel for the area.

 

22         

A person may not be a co-opted member of the police and crime panel for a

 

police area if the person is any of the following—

 

(a)    

a member of the staff of the police and crime commissioner for that

 

police area;

 

(b)    

a member of the civilian staff of the police force for that police area;

 

(c)    

a member of a local authority which is covered by that police area;

 

(d)    

a Member of Parliament;

 

(e)    

a member of the National Assembly for Wales;

 

(f)    

a member of the Scottish Parliament;

 

(g)    

a member of the European Parliament.

 

Panel arrangements

 

23  (1)  

Panel arrangements are arrangements for the establishment and maintenance

 

of a police and crime panel.

 

      (2)  

Panel arrangements must make provision about the co-option of, and holding

 

of office by, the two co-opted members of the police and crime panel.

 

      (3)  

Panel arrangements must include provision about—

 

(a)    

the term of office of appointed members and co-opted members of the

 

panel;

 

(b)    

resignation, and removal, of appointed members and co-opted

 

members of the panel;

 

(c)    

conditions for re-appointment of appointed members and co-opted

 

members of the panel.

 

      (4)  

Panel arrangements may not make rules of procedure for the police and crime

 

panel (as to which see paragraph 24).

 

      (5)  

Panel arrangements may make different provision for different cases.

 

      (6)  

The following persons must comply with the panel arrangements relating to a

 

police and crime panel—

 

(a)    

each relevant local authority;

 

(b)    

each member of the police and crime panel.

 

Rules of procedure

 

24  (1)  

A police and crime panel must make rules of procedure for the panel.

 

      (2)  

A police and crime panel’s rules of procedure must make provision about the

 

appointment, resignation and removal of a person to chair the panel.

 

      (3)  

The police and crime panel’s rules of procedure may, in particular, make

 

provision about—

 

(a)    

the method of making decisions, and

 

(b)    

the formation of sub-committees.


 
 

Report Stage Proceedings: 30 March 2011                  

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Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, continued

 
 

      (4)  

A sub-committee of a police and crime panel may not co-opt members.

 

      (5)  

This paragraph is subject to paragraph 26.

 

Voting by members

 

25         

All members of a police and crime panel may vote in proceedings of the panel.

 

Exercise of special functions

 

26  (1)  

The special functions of a police and crime panel may not be discharged by a

 

committee or sub-committee of the panel.

 

      (2)  

In this paragraph “special functions” means the functions conferred on a police

 

and crime panel by—

 

(a)    

section 28(2) (scrutiny of police and crime plan);

 

(b)    

section 28(3) (scrutiny of annual report);

 

(c)    

Schedule 5 (issuing precepts); and

 

(d)    

Part 1 of Schedule 8 (scrutiny of appointment of chief constables).

 

Allowances

 

27         

The panel arrangements may make provision about the payment of allowances

 

to members of the police and crime panel.

 

Promotion of, and support, for panels

 

28         

The panel arrangements must make provision for—

 

(a)    

the role of the police and crime panel to be promoted;

 

(b)    

administrative and other support to be given to the police and crime

 

panel and its members;

 

(c)    

support and guidance to be given to—

 

(i)    

members of relevant local authorities,

 

(ii)    

members of the executives (if any) of relevant local

 

authorities, and

 

(iii)    

officers of relevant local authorities,

 

    

in relation to the functions of the police and crime panel.

 

Validity of proceedings

 

29         

The validity of the proceedings of a police and crime panel is not affected by

 

a vacancy in the membership of the panel or a defect in appointment.

 

Duty to produce balanced panel

 

30  (1)  

In exercising functions under Part 2 or 3 of this Schedule, a relevant local

 

authority must secure that (as far as is reasonably practicable) the balanced

 

appointment objective is met.

 

      (2)  

In exercising functions under Part 2 or 3 of this Schedule, the Secretary of State

 

must secure that (as far as is reasonably practicable) the balanced appointment

 

objective is met.

 

      (3)  

The “balanced appointment objective” referred to in this paragraph is the

 

objective that the appointed members of a police and crime panel (when taken

 

together)—

 

(a)    

represent all parts of the relevant police area;

 

(b)    

represent the political make-up of—


 
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