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Baroness Blatch moved Amendment No. 40:
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Clause 41, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 43 [Orders governing NCIS Service Authority]:
Baroness Blatch moved Amendment No. 41:
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Clause 43, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 51 [Appointment of Director General]:
Baroness Blatch moved Amendment No. 43
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Baroness Blatch moved Amendment No. 45:
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Clause 51, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 53 [Deputy Director General]:
Baroness Blatch moved Amendment No. 46:
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Clause 53, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 54 [Other members of the National Crime Squad]:
Baroness Blatch moved Amendments Nos. 47, 48, and 49:
The noble Baroness said: I have already spoken to these amendments. With the leave of the Committee I shall move them en bloc. I beg to move.
On Question, amendments agreed to.
Baroness Blatch moved Amendment No. 50:
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Baroness Blatch moved Amendment No. 51:
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Baroness Blatch moved Amendment No. 53:
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Baroness Blatch moved Amendments Nos. 55 to 58:
The noble Baroness said: These amendments have already been spoken to. With the leave of the Committee I shall move them en bloc. I beg to move.
On Question, amendments agreed to.
Clause 54, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 56 [Reports by Director General to the Authority]:
Baroness Blatch moved Amendment No. 60:
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Clause 56, as amended, agreed to.
Lord McIntosh of Haringey moved Amendment No. 61:
Page 18, line 23, leave out ("(4)(b)") and insert ("(4)(a)").
Page 18, line 45, leave out ("by") and insert ("in pursuance of").
Page 22, line 22, after ("in") insert ("paragraph 14 of").
Page 22, line 30, at end insert--
("( ) The Director General shall hold the rank of chief constable.").
7.15 p.m.
Page 23, line 6, leave out (" 54(2)(b)") and insert (" 54(2)(a)").
Page 23, line 27, at beginning insert ("he is appointed to the rank of assistant chief constable in the National Crime Squad and he met the requirements of subsection (2A) immediately prior to his being appointed, or
(b)")
Page 23, line 29, leave out from ("applies") to end of line 32 and insert--
("(2A) A person meets the requirements of this subsection if--
(a) he holds the rank of assistant chief constable or a higher rank in a police force in Great Britain or in the Royal Ulster Constabulary,
(b) he holds the rank of commander or a higher rank in the metropolitan police force or in the City of London police force, or
(c) he is, in accordance with regulations under section 50 of the Police Act 1996, section 26 of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 or section 25 of the Police Act (Northern Ireland) 1970, a constable eligible for appointment to the rank of assistant chief constable or commander in any of the police forces, or in the Constabulary, mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b).").
Page 23, line 33, leave out ("to (7)") and insert (", (6) and (7)").
Page 23, line 33, leave out ("person") and insert ("a police member").
Page 23, line 34, leave out ("(2)(b)") and insert ("(2)(a)").
Page 23, line 36, leave out from ("(c)") to ("shall") in line 37.
Page 23, line 43, leave out from beginning to ("at") in line 45 and insert ("(6) A police member to whom subsection (2)(b) applies shall cease to be a member of the National Crime Squad").
Page 24, line 5, leave out from ("Squad") to end of line 6.
Page 24, line 8, leave out ("within subsection (2)(b)") and insert ("to whom subsection (2)(a) applies").
Page 24, line 16, leave out subsection (10).
Page 24, line 28, at end insert ("during that year").
After Clause 56, insert the following new clause--
(".--(1) Where a police authority in England or Wales notifies the NCS Service Authority of a request that it investigate a matter of concern to which this section applies, the Director General of the NCS shall investigate and report to the NCS Service Authority as soon as reasonably practicable.
(2) A matter of concern to which this section applies is an exceptional matter of concern arising from an incident or series of incidents which have occurred within the police authority's area and relating to the conduct, efficiency or effectiveness of the NCS.
(3) The NCS Service Authority shall, after considering a report made by the Director General of the NCS under this section, notify the police authority concerned as soon as practicable and shall make available to that authority a statement as to its conclusions and any action which it proposes to take.").
The noble Lord said: Amendment No. 61 takes the form of a new clause to be inserted after Clause 56. It would provide a mechanism for a police authority to raise issues of serious concern with the director general through the service authority for the National Crime Squad.
This is an analogy with the provision under Section 22 of the consolidated Police Act 1996. That Act provides, and earlier legislation provided before it, that a chief constable must, when required to do so by the police authority, submit a report to the authority on such matters as may be specified in the requirements which are related to the policing of the area.
There are comparable powers to require reports in this legislation and we have passed through them without debate and without difficulty. In fact, so many reports are flying between the service authorities, the Secretary of State and the criminal intelligence service and the National Crime Squad that a few more forests will need to be created to provide the paper for them. The analogy for the provision under Section 22 of the 1996 Act does not exist in the present Bill. We are suggesting that it should.
The power under Section 22 is not used very often but it is a useful safeguard. It allows a police authority to ask for a report when there is some disquiet about the operation of the force. There is a get-out provision which allows the chief constable to refer the requirement to the Secretary of State if he believes that the disclosure of the information is not in the public interest or is not needed for the discharge of the police authority's function. In those circumstances, the Secretary of State can put aside the requirement which the police authority has made. There are analogies in this Bill to that get-out provision.
I am not suggesting that there will be problems, but with a new national crime squad investigating crime in many areas, there is bound to be the possibility of conflict of some kind between a local police force and the National Crime Squad. They are intended to work hand in glove. I accept that the intention of the legislation is in that direction and I accept that a great deal of effort has been put in to ensuring that there is no conflict between the National Crime Squad and the local police force. However, if anything goes wrong with the liaison, not through any lack of good will but through simple human error, it is possible that a serious crime could be committed in the area of a local force, there could be loss of life and it could be that the local police force and the local police authority are called to account by the people living in the area. In this amendment we provide that there should be the possibility of a police authority raising the issue with the director general of the National Crime Squad through the service authority. It would give some assurance to the local police authority that matters were being properly investigated and that a full explanation of the circumstances would be given.
Clause 76 of the Bill allows the Secretary of State to require reports of this kind. The Secretary of State, being accountable to Parliament, is able to answer questions in Parliament about the operation of the national crime squad and has to be sure that he can get the information. What we are proposing here is a similar power for a local authority which is also responsible to people in a local area. We do not want this to be widely used. If it were to be widely used it would be the result of a more general failure in liaison between the National Crime Squad and the local police force. I hope that would not happen; and if it did happen, it probably would be a matter of national concern. A comparable power to that provided in Clause 76 is appropriate. This seems to be the appropriate place to insert it. I beg to move.
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