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On the contrary, the way in which the Bill is drafted makes an absolute distinction between operational agreements—to be entered into by police forces—and agreements relating to support services, which are to be entered into by police authorities. This distinction also implies an absolute separation of the two functions, which is much more sharply drawn than in the current legislation governing collaboration. It is true that this allows for separate force and authority agreements, but it is less precise about the exact nature of these agreements. Because existing legislation is, in some senses, more permissive than the replacement now being proposed, it has been customary to enter into many collaboration agreements jointly, as between force and authority. This makes sense where an essentially operational agreement requires support services to make it effective. In fact, it is hard to think of any area of collaboration that is so operationally focused that it would not require some element of administrative back-up. Perhaps, to a lesser extent, the argument also holds the other way around, when collaboration might focus on administrative support but impact on some element of operational policing.
The point of this section of the Bill is to improve on existing legislation to better enable collaboration and bring greater clarity to the respective roles of the authority and the force. This is to be supported, but I fear that, unless the Bill explicitly permits joint arrangements, it will have the opposite effect. I know the Minister will argue that this is unnecessary because there is nothing in the legislation that says joint agreements cannot be entered into, but I am not convinced that it is so straightforward. The existing wording at least implies that joint agreements are not possible because of the absolute separation of functions. If this is so, it would render most existing collaboration agreements unworkable and prevent, rather than encourage, a significant proportion of new agreements.
The second paragraph ensures that any police force collaboration agreement that commits a police authority to a financial or legal liability must include that police authority as a party to that agreement. This refers largely to the position of police authorities as both employers to the police and budget holders for their force, with a duty of care to their employees and a financial stewardship for the budget. The amendment acknowledges this position and puts in place arrangements that prevent an authority’s legal liabilities being compromised through agreements that might otherwise be outside their control. In moving this amendment, I reiterate that it is designed to be helpful and bring greater clarity to the impetus to encourage more widespread and effective collaboration. I beg to move.
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Baroness Harris of Richmond: I have added my name to this amendment. There is no need for me to reiterate what the noble Baroness, Lady Henig, has said. I share her concern about the Bill making an absolute separation between operational agreements by forces and support services by police authorities. It would be very helpful if that distinction could be cleared up.
Lord West of Spithead: There has been some confusion over separation in this legislation—in how it deals with the agreements between forces or police authorities. It has been suggested that such a separation indicates that police forces cannot engage with their authorities and come to agreements with them about the details of the collaborative work that they want to do. This divide is not new; it is also in the current legislation. Both the current and new provisions provide for separate agreements to preserve the important distinctions between the functions of forces and authorities. It would not have made sense to confer power on chief officers to agree matters relating to the exercise of functions by their police authority, and vice versa. Neither would it have made sense for two chief officers to decide how they are to be held to account. These two groups will be signing up to wholly different agreements, reflecting their own responsibilities. However, this is not to say that authorities and forces will not work together to ensure effective collaboration. In practice, a substantial collaborative enterprise normally involves both kinds of agreement in parallel. These new provisions continue to support agreements in which all the parties come together and sign up to an arrangement where each agrees to their specific role.
The wording of the amendment is intended to ensure that police authorities will always be party to agreements by their forces when police force collaboration plans impose a legal liability on them. Under the provisions that we are bringing in, police authorities will have to be involved in all police force collaboration agreements. Under Section 23(6) they must approve all police force agreements. Therefore, they will need to approve any liability imposed upon them. They will also need to consider their own agreements to facilitate jointly the force collaboration. Under new Section 23D the authorities must agree on the arrangements to be followed to ensure that accountability for the force collaboration will be delivered, and must publish those arrangements alongside the details of the collaboration agreement.
The agreement between the forces and the agreement between the authorities will most likely take the form of a single collaboration document that satisfies the legislation in both the current Section 23 and the new provisions. There is no need to specify that both sorts of agreement can be combined in a single document but this practice will no doubt continue and indeed will be provided for in example agreements that will be included with the supporting guidance that we intend to publish. On the basis of this assurance that the intention of the amendment is already served by the draft provisions, I ask that it be withdrawn.
Baroness Henig: I thank my noble friend for his very clear explanation. I will say only that the intention of the amendment was to improve collaboration by
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28: Clause 5, page 7, line 6, after “force” insert “or a joint committee of those authorities involved in the agreement as specified under section 23D(3),”
Baroness Henig: In moving Amendment 28, I will speak also to Amendment 36A. Amendment 28 aims to put beyond doubt the arrangements about police accountability under the collaboration provisions set out in this section. It strengthens the other parts of the section, which I welcome as a genuine attempt to bring clarity to this tricky area, aiming to set out how chief officers will be held to account under collaboration arrangements. This has proved difficult in practice under existing arrangements, and it is crucially important to get this right under the new proposals. While I agree that the Bill makes a good start, I am not convinced that the existing wording adequately covers collaboration arrangements overseen by joint committees of the police authorities involved. The amendment is therefore specifically designed to address this situation.
The existing wording in this clause seems merely to reiterate that a police authority holds its own chief officer to account, which is something that authorities do under existing legislation in any case. It does not seem to deal adequately with the complexities of holding to account for arrangements that extend beyond the boundary of the police authority concerned. This might occur when a force’s chief officer conducts operations in another force area under a collaboration agreement. There are difficulties in squaring this accountability circle at present. On the one hand, there is uncertainty as to whether the home authority can ask a chief officer to answer to it over conduct outside its area. On the other, there is doubt about whether the authority in whose area the officer is operating can hold him or her to account. This is generally overcome by those authorities forming a joint committee, but in the past some chief officers have questioned the authority of a joint committee to hold them to account. While joint arrangements are mentioned in subsection (3), these are oblique and do not seem explicitly to deal with accountability. Because accountability and answerability are fundamental in getting collaboration right, the arrangements to make this work in a joint context need to be clear and beyond doubt in the Bill. I beg to move.
Baroness Harris of Richmond: Amendment 36A in this grouping is intended to assist collaboration and make its operation easier and more effective. At the risk of boring the Committee to death, to explain how
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At present, unlike other local government bodies, a police authority is not allowed to arrange for any of its functions to be discharged by another police authority. This prohibition is set out in Section 107 of the Local Government Act 1972. In 1972, when this Act came into force, police authorities were still committees of local authorities, as I explained earlier. In those circumstances, it was inappropriate for police authorities to have an independent legal status outside of their councils, and to arrange for another police authority to carry out their functions. But since 1995, police authorities have had an independent legal status, yet remain covered by arrangements which are no longer appropriate in this respect. This restriction has a particularly detrimental effect on joint procurement. Local authorities that wish to make joint procurement arrangements will usually nominate one authority to take the lead on behalf of the other authorities involved. This is usually the authority with the most expertise and experience to manage the procurement process, while other authorities contribute to the cost on a pro rata basis.
However, these arrangements are predicated on being able to delegate certain functions. So this option is denied to police authorities, which cannot arrange for another authority to discharge their functions, including arranging for and awarding contracts. In practical terms this means that every authority or force taking part in collaborative procurement arrangements has to be a legal party and signatory to the procurement contract, to avoid falling foul of this section of the 1972 Act. Naturally, the result is needless bureaucracy and a disincentive to collaboration. The amendment would resolve this situation and so facilitate much greater collaboration, particularly in relation to procurement, which has driven significant efficiencies in local government.
Baroness Hanham: I support the amendment. As regards collaborative arrangements, it is extremely important that a mechanism is set up to see that joint arrangements are working. I suspect that there would have to be, as the noble Baroness, Lady Henig, suggested, a joint committee made up of members from each of the authorities involved. Given that the police authorities are not able to delegate, it is vital that proper arrangements are in place to ensure that the collaborative work can be carried out satisfactorily in terms of legalities and supervision. There is a lot to be said for this amendment and I hope that the Minister will be able to accept it.
7.15 pm
Lord West of Spithead: My noble friend Lady Henig is entirely right that police authorities should be able to deliver their function of holding a chief officer to account for collaborations by way of a joint committee of police authorities, as proposed in Amendment 28. Subsection (3) of new Section 23D actually encourages consideration of joint committees for this purpose.
However, the Local Government Act 1972, by virtue of Sections 101(1) and 107(1)(a), already allows police
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Amendment 36A also concerns the Local Government Act and its provisions regarding the exercise of the functions of police authorities. As already noted, this Act is useful in allowing joint police authority committees to deliver accountability functions under a collaboration agreement. In this way a police authority can already deliver some of its duties jointly under the Local Government Act, such as that of holding a chief constable who is leading a collaboration agreement to account for his work on that joint endeavour.
However, the principle that the police authority is ultimately responsible for policing in its own area is sound and should remain at the core of what a police authority is all about, whether it exercises that responsibility collaboratively or independently. Even in those cases where collaboration takes a lead force approach, each police authority needs to continue to be involved as the body with overall responsibility for policing of its area.
There may be some merit in the suggestion which has been put forward recently by the Association of Police Authorities that some employment and procurement difficulties in collaborations might be eased by the ability to delegate to each other some of the functions relating to those areas. These are complex areas and we would not want to make any such amendment before examining the detail and the extent of any such proposal, and giving it close consideration.
But I beg to suggest that this amendment is too sweeping in its wording and would allow a police authority to divest itself of any or all of its core functions. I question whether this House would support enabling one police authority to delegate to another all responsibility for holding its chief officer to account for the delivery of policing on, say, counterterrorism, or its responsibility to promote equality and diversity.
I know, however, that a number of police authorities are firmly of the opinion that an amendment of some kind to the police authority provisions in the Local Government Act would be of genuine benefit to collaborations on procurement in particular—procurement is an issue very close to my heart—and I would welcome further work between the Home Office and the association to examine such an approach. In the light of this, I request that the noble Baroness withdraws the amendment.
Baroness Henig: I thank my noble friend for his reply. I also thank the noble Baronesses, Lady Hanham and Lady Harris, for speaking in support of these amendments. In thanking my noble friend for what he has just said, I very much hope that it will be possible for the Home Office and the Association of Police Authorities, and any other bodies that can make a useful contribution, to get together to see whether any amendments can achieve the objective which I think we all seek; namely, to make collaboration more effective and meaningful and to see it working on the ground. I think that all of us in our different ways are trying to ensure that. In the light of that assurance, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
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29: Clause 5, page 7, line 28, at end insert—
“23EA Collaboration agreements: report
(1) A person who makes a collaboration agreement must submit a report on the working of the agreement annually to the Secretary of State who shall lay it before both Houses of Parliament.
(2) A report under subsection (1) shall include an assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of the agreement.”
Baroness Hanham: There is a lot to be learnt from collaborative arrangements. They already operate to a limited extent but as they become more and more a part of the lives of police authorities and police forces, lessons will be learnt about where they work, where they do not work, where disagreements arise or do not arise, where there are huge benefits and where there are financial benefits. My amendment seeks to probe how that information will be assembled, taken into account and communicated across all the authorities.
In lobbing the Secretary of State into this matter, I am arguing for the opposite of what I have argued for throughout the Bill. I suggest that an annual report on any collaborative arrangement should be submitted to the Secretary of State and laid before the House. We could perhaps limit that to the first few years so that the learning process only would be covered. I believe that it would be beneficial and very useful for that information to be freely available so that people do not have to try to find it. If that were the case, they would know that a report had been made and that it would be published, and they could take account of it. That would be useful for police authorities, police forces, local government and anybody else who has a role in the matter. It might also be of marginal interest to the Secretary of State who would receive the reports. I seek purely to provide a follow-through for these collaborative arrangements to see how they are working. I beg to move.
Baroness Harris of Richmond: These Benches are minded to support this amendment. It seems to be a good idea. It would be very useful to know how collaboration is working between forces. We hope that it works well as we certainly would not want to go down the merger route again.
I have a question for the noble Baroness if she is willing to answer it. Is she able to clarify that the amendment would apply to each person who makes an agreement—that, for example, if two forces decided to work together, two reports would be produced, one from each chief officer? It would be useful to see whether there were circumstances where collaboration had worked for one force but not another, so that lessons might be learnt. If the Minister and the noble Baroness are able to help me there, I would be grateful.
Baroness Hanham: It might be helpful for me simply to say that that is how the amendment is worded. The lay person would be the chief officer on either side. It would be a joint report, but both would be reporting.
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Lord West of Spithead: I was delighted to see that the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, spotted the irony of the amendment, which I have to say runs the risk of adding significant unnecessary bureaucracy for those who have entered into a collaboration agreement. It could deter some from entering into joint working arrangements; I am not convinced that it would do that, but it would add to bureaucracy. Since the Flanagan review, cutting back on bureaucracy has become an important aim of the Government, something about which we have been whipped by a number of people, so we take it very seriously. In that sense, the amendment would be a backward step.
The Government have a clear role in setting the strategic direction and steering police collaboration in a way that benefits policing in the round, but the role of the centre should be limited to when it is really needed. That balance will not be achieved by the amendment. I understand why the amendment was tabled but police authorities already have, and under this clause will continue to benefit from, a clear remit to hold to account and oversee how policing is delivered in their policing area. That is no different for collaboration, and Clause 5 makes adequate arrangements for that. At the local level, the authorities need to pull data together; I agree that it would be useful to draw on that to see how collaboration is working. However, the amendment would do nothing other than add to bureaucracy, so on that basis I ask that it be withdrawn.
Baroness Hanham: There are ironies all round here. The noble Lord mentions Flanagan; I mention in passing that there seems remarkably little of Flanagan in the Bill. I commented on that on Second Reading, and I make the point again.
We are all interested in getting rid of bureaucracy, but we ought to ensure that we learn lessons. None of this legislation may work; it may work beautifully, but it may not. There is a responsibility on those legislating to know how it is working. I hear what the Minister has said and, for today’s purposes, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Viscount Bridgeman: I have been asked by my noble friend Lord Bates, who cannot be in his place, to remind the noble Baroness, Lady Harris, that Cleveland is not only a very small force but a very fine one.
The Secretary of State remains on stage, because the amendments in this group seek to explore the involvement that the Secretary of State will have in collaboration agreements. We have been discussing the subject in other forms today. The Bill allows for both guidance and directions. Is it really appropriate for the Government to give directions about an agreement directly to a chief officer, over the head of his police authority?
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Do the Government intend to publish guidance under new Section 23F, or is it being introduced as a reserve power in case authorities and officers do not implement these agreements as intended? Is the direction power there merely to back up the guidance if it proves insufficient, or does the Minister imagine the Government taking a proactive role in seeking out opportunities for collaboration agreements and forcing authorities to engage in them?
Given the intrusiveness that the two new sections allow, Amendment 31 in this group, tabled by the noble Baronesses, Lady Harris and Lady Miller, seems very wise. Indeed, it seems sensible to require the consultation of not only ACPO and the APA, but the affected authority or chief officer. Similarly, Amendment 34 seems entirely in line with the Government's intentions and is another amendment we would support. I beg to move.
Baroness Harris of Richmond: Amendments 31, 32, 34 and 35 in this group stand in my name, and I will deal with each in turn as quickly as I can.
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