Policing and Crime Bill

My Lords, when this issue was debated in Committee, I offered to consider further whether there was an anomaly here. Collaboration in policing depends on negotiation and consultation between the forces and their authorities from the outset. This assumption is well understood and it needs to be embedded in the legislation that supports it, which is why we have the proposed balance of provisions on consultation. All agreements between forces have to be approved by their authorities, but only consultation is required the other way around. All parties must have some involvement in plans for collaboration agreements, but the balance of responsibility rests with the police authorities, which have the ultimate accountability for ensuring that collaboration is supported and have the final say in the judgment of the best way to deliver greater efficiency or effectiveness. Amendment 9 seeks to ensure that a chief officer is not troubled by being consulted on collaboration plans between police authorities about things which do not directly affect the running of the force. I would suggest that there is always a possibility that such plans might in some cases have an indirect impact on force business. Much of the business of police authorities, for example on performance and planning, is carried out in-force. I would hesitate to suggest that there is a clear distinction, as this amendment implies, between work which has a bearing on the force’s activities and work which does not. This close working is as it should be; and to include the chief officer in routine consultation on such matters is the most straightforward approach, would not impose a significant burden and would be appropriate. Turning to Amendment 8, if employees are under the chief officer’s direction and control, a police authority should not be able to agree provisions affecting the functions they carry out without seeking his approval. I understand why this has been likened to the authority seeking permission from the chief officer to provide resources for itself, but this is not a condition applicable to all police authority agreements or all the provisions of any one police authority agreement. The limits of this approval are intended to be confined to the impact of the collaboration plans, in respect of the functions of those employees, on operational matters. This will be set out in detail in the statutory guidance which police authorities are currently helping to draft and to which chief officers must have regard. We fully intend to ensure, with the help of our stakeholder partners, that the statutory guidance planned for publication alongside these provisions when implemented will make clear the extent of the consultation and approval processes within these provisions. The publication of guidance on collaboration is important to the successful implementation of these provisions. We are working closely on its development with the Association of Police Authorities, the Association of Police Authority Chief Executives, the Association of Chief Police Officers, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, the National Policing Improvement Agency and practitioners within the police service with real experience of the challenges that collaboration brings. The National Police Protective Services Board, representing the tripartite organisations, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate and the NPIA will sign off the statutory guidance and associated toolkit. An early draft of this material has been received enthusiastically and its publication, which is planned to coincide with the commencement of this Bill in the new year, is keenly anticipated by many in the service who already are in the midst of putting together their plans for closer joint working to meet the need for delivering leaner and more effective policing. In the light of that reassurance I ask the noble Baroness to withdraw her amendment.