Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I thank my noble friend Lady Henig for her very useful input, which has allowed debate on this point, and I thank my noble friend Lord Harris of Haringey. It always makes one nervous speaking when one has people who have such knowledge of an area bringing up various points. However, before I address the amendment, it might be helpful for me to set out the aims of Clause 180. To date, there has been no process for the inspection of police authorities beyond the Audit Commission’s review of their financial arrangements and compliance with best value under Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1999. Correspondingly, Section 54(2A) of the Police Act 1996 provides that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary has a role only in the inspection of authorities’ best-value functions. The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 made changes to the Local Government Act 1999 that allow the Audit Commission to inspect all the functions of a police authority. This provision will amend the Police Act 1996 to give Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary parallel powers, enabling a joint inspection process that draws on the professional expertise and knowledge of both those bodies. With related legislative provisions in the Police Act 1996 and the Police and Justice Act 2006, which allow the inspectorate to work jointly with the Audit Commission and to control the overall burden of inspection on police authorities, that will provide the statutory framework for an effective programme of joint inspection. I recognise that the amendment seeks to consolidate those provisions and to go some way towards specifying how the different bodies will work together, in an attempt to clarify the inspection regime. It also introduces a requirement for nominees of the Association of Police Authorities to be involved in conducting police authority inspections. However, that will be better achieved through the joint inspection protocol and methodology that it has been agreed will underpin the programme of inspections. Specifying the details of joint inspection in the legislation reduces flexibility and the ability to take account of the different circumstances in the 43 different police authorities. The joint framework will be drawn up by the Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Audit Commission to provide a clear basis on which to manage the inspection programme. It will be developed with input from the Association of Police Authorities to ensure that it reflects its knowledge and understanding of the work of the authorities. During the passage of this Bill in another place, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Crime Reduction, Vernon Coaker, gave a commitment that the inspection process would include an element of peer review by the authorities, as the noble Baroness mentioned. I know that the inspectorate and the commission are ready to explore how best to bring this into the protocol with the Association of Police Authorities. We very much recognise the valuable experience and knowledge that police authorities can bring to the inspection process, but we do not accept that it is right that there should be a legal requirement that they play a part in every case in their inspection. I ask my noble friend Lady Henig to withdraw the amendment.