Policing and Crime Bill

My Lords, these amendments seek to constrain the Secretary of State’s powers to direct police forces and police authorities to issue guidance about collaboration. It is reassuring that the noble Baroness does not seek to remove these powers completely because she clearly recognises the need to have the tools to carry forward strategic directions and supporting guidance where they are deemed necessary. Indeed, as she said, this already exists to an extent in legislation. The dependency on efficiency and effectiveness is made explicit in Amendment 13, but it is not necessary. The Secretary of State is already compelled by Section 36 of the Police Act to exercise his powers in such as way as to promote those aims in respect of Part 1 of the Act, which the provisions in Clause 5 amend. Amendment 13 also seeks to allow directions to be given to chief officers only via their police authorities. To answer the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Jones, we believe that this is consistent with the requirement to have police authorities with their powers. We are not trying to bypass them. I do not believe that this is a necessary change to the arrangement set out in Clause 5. The Secretary of State may wish to issue a direction to particular forces, for example, to follow a particular collaborative route or to modify the way in which they are currently collaborating, and at the same time would need to direct those forces’ authorities to enable such a change. I do not see that this direct engagement with forces diminishes in any way the position of police authorities or their responsibility to govern the work of their forces. I am happy to clarify now that there is no question that any direction to be given to a chief officer would first involve consultation with him and his police authority. There will always be consultation before anyone is directed. Further, the amendments seek to make explicit such consultation, as well as consultation with the Association of Police Authorities and the Association of Chief Police Officers on directions and statutory guidance. They also seek to specify that the advice of Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary should also be sought. It is fully intended that these avenues of consultation will be pursued as a matter of course. The mechanism that is being established to oversee and guide collaborative working through the tripartite national police protective services board involves all these organisations, and it is intended that it should make recommendations to the National Policing Board for any proposed directions in the future. The intention to consult these policing partners has been made very plain in Committee debates in both Houses of Parliament, and does not need to be spelt out again in the provisions of the Act. I should add that before issuing statutory guidance or directions to the British Transport Police or the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, which are included in the provisions in Clause 5, the Secretaries of State for their respective departments would also be consulted as a matter of course. On that basis, I ask the noble Baroness to withdraw her amendment.