Police and Justice Bill

moved Amendment No. 11: Page 78, line 25, leave out paragraphs 3 and 4 and insert- ““ In section 4 (membership of police authorities outside Greater London), in subsection (4), for ““Schedules 2 and 3”” there is substituted ““Schedule 2””. For Schedule 2 there is substituted- SCHEDULE 2 Section 4 POLICE AUTHORITIES ESTABLISHED UNDER SECTION 3 Membership of police authorities 1 (1) The Secretary of State shall by regulations make provision in relation to the membership of police authorities established under section 3. (2) Regulations under this paragraph shall provide for a police authority to consist of- (a) persons who are members of a relevant council, and (b) other persons, including at least one lay justice. (3) Those regulations shall- (a) specify the number of members falling within paragraph (a) and paragraph (b) of sub-paragraph (2), and (b) secure that the majority of members of a police authority are persons falling within paragraph (a) of that sub-paragraph. (4) Those regulations may make further provision as to qualification for membership, and may provide for a specified number of the members of a police authority to be persons of a specified description. (5) Those regulations may include provision as to- (a) how a member is to be appointed; (b) disqualification for membership; (c) the tenure of office of a member (including the circumstances in which a member ceases to hold office or may be removed or suspended from office); (d) re-appointment as a member; (e) the validity of acts and proceedings of a person appointed as a member in the event of his disqualification or lack of qualification; (f) the validity of proceedings of a police authority in the event of a vacancy in membership or of a defect in the appointment of a member or in the composition of the authority; (g) the payment of remuneration and allowances to a member and the reimbursement of expenses. Appointment of councillor members 2 Regulations under paragraph 1 shall provide that- (a) in the case of a police authority in relation to which there is only one relevant council, the members falling within paragraph 1(2)(a) are to be appointed by that council; (b) in any other case, those members are to be appointed by a joint committee consisting of persons appointed by the relevant councils from among their own members. Appointment of other members 3 (1) Regulations under paragraph 1 shall provide that the members falling within paragraph 1(2)(b) are to be appointed- (a) by the existing members of the authority, (b) from among persons on a short-list prepared by a selection panel. (2) Those regulations may make provision as to qualification for membership of a selection panel, and may provide for a specified number of the members of a panel to be persons of a specified description. (3) Those regulations may include provision as to- (a) the number of members of a selection panel; (b) how and by whom a member of a panel is to be appointed; (c) disqualification for membership; (d) the tenure of office of a member of a panel (including the circumstances in which a member ceases to hold office or may be removed or suspended from office); (e) re-appointment as a member of a panel; (f) the conduct of proceedings of a panel, including any procedures that a panel is to follow; (g) the validity of acts and proceedings of a person appointed as a member of a panel in the event of his disqualification or lack of qualification; (h) the validity of proceedings of a panel in the event of a vacancy in membership or of a defect in the appointment of a member or in the composition of the panel; (i) the payment of remuneration and allowances to a member of a panel and the reimbursement of expenses. Chairman and vice chairmen 4 (1) The Secretary of State shall by regulations provide that- (a) a police authority is to appoint a chairman from among its members at each annual meeting; and (b) at an annual meeting a police authority may appoint one or more vice-chairmen from among its members. (2) Regulations under this paragraph may make further provision about how a chairman or vice-chairman is to be appointed, and provision as to- (a) qualification and disqualification for appointment; (b) the tenure of office of a chairman or vice-chairman (including the circumstances in which a chairman or vice-chairman ceases to hold office or may be removed or suspended from office); (c) eligibility for re-appointment; (d) the validity of acts and proceedings of a person appointed as chairman or vice-chairman in the event of his disqualification or lack of qualification; (e) the validity of proceedings of a police authority in the event of a vacancy in the office of chairman or vice-chairman or of a defect in the appointment of a chairman or vice-chairman; (f) the payment of remuneration and allowances to a chairman or vice-chairman and the reimbursement of expenses. Standards committees 5 The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision as to the payment of remuneration and allowances to, and the reimbursement of expenses of, members of the standards committee of a police authority established under section 3. Consultation 6 Before making regulations under this Schedule the Secretary of State shall consult- (a) the Association of Police Authorities, (b) persons whom he considers to represent the interests of county and district councils in England and county and county borough councils in Wales, (c) in the case of regulations that are not to apply to all police authorities established under section 3- (i) any police authority to which the regulations are to apply, and (ii) any relevant council in relation to such an authority, and (d) such other persons as he thinks fit. Supplementary 7 (1) Regulations under this Schedule may make different provision for different police authorities. (2) Regulations under this Schedule may make transitional, consequential, incidental and supplemental provision or savings. (3) A statutory instrument containing regulations under this Schedule shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament. Interpretation 8 (1) For the purposes of this Schedule a council is a ““relevant council”” in relation to a police authority in England if it is the council for- (a) a county, or (b) a district comprised in an area for which there is no county council, which constitutes, or is wholly within, the authority's police area. (2) For the purposes of this Schedule a council is a ““relevant council”” in relation to a police authority in Wales if it is the council for a county or county borough which constitutes, or is wholly within, the authority's police area. 9 In this Schedule ““lay justice”” has the meaning given by section 9 of the Courts Act 2003.”””” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, I hope that I can continue in the happy frame in which we have started. I assure the House that we listened very carefully to debates in Committee on the provisions of the Bill that relate to membership of police authorities, and to the discussions that we have had in the mean time, before Report. I appreciate the concerns that have been so elegantly articulated about the need to retain the core principles governing the composition of the police authorities in primary legislation. The government amendments in this group will restore much of the detail of these provisions on to the face of the Police Act 1996. The Bill currently leaves the procedure for appointing the members of the police authority entirely to regulations and, in particular, does not specify who is responsible for appointing the councillor and independent members. Having heard the arguments in this House and those put to us by the Association of Police Authorities, in these amendments we seek to strike a better balance between primary and secondary legislation. It became clear in our debates that there was no difference between us on this; it was simply a matter of how we were going to express our comity in relation to this area. The amendments put into primary legislation a provision to stipulate that councillor members should be appointed by the councils from which they are drawn and that independent members should be appointed by the existing membership of the police authority from among the shortlist of candidates recommended as suitable for appointment by a selection panel. I also understand the concerns that several noble Lords have raised about the appointment of the chair and vice-chairs to the police authority. Accordingly, the amendments will now stipulate in the Police Act who should make these appointments. The chair and vice-chair would, as now, be appointed by the authority from among its members. Amendment No. 14, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, is in similar vein. Other provisions relating to these appointments, including eligibility for appointment and the duration of such appointments, remuneration and allowances, should rightly be left to regulations. I have also listened closely to the heartfelt views expressed by many noble Lords on retaining the separate category of magistrate members on police authorities. I feel some confidence that that will give particular pleasure to the noble Baroness opposite. As I said in Committee, I recognise the valuable skills and knowledge that magistrates bring to authorities. We certainly did not want to lose that entirely, so Amendment No. 11 provides that at least one of the independent members of the police authority should be a magistrate. I hope that Members on the Benches opposite will accept that as a sensible compromise. Finally, the government amendments restore the existing Section 4 of the Police Act, which provides for police authorities to have a standard membership of 17. I recognise that the Bill could, hypothetically, empower some future Home Secretary to create police authorities with a membership of as few as three. That was never our intention. We will retain, as now, a power to increase the size of individual police authorities by regulations. I trust that the amendments I have tabled will give the House the reassurance that many noble Lords have asked for. I am sorry that we have not been able to make all the amendments that noble Lords have sought, but I hope that the major amendments about which people were most anxious have all been satisfied, and this wonderful atmosphere that we are developing in debating this Bill can continue for a while longer. I beg to move.