Policing and Crime Bill

My Lords, Clauses 11 and 12 are valuable and necessary to improve information systems in policing. The proposed amendments would prevent the Secretary of State being able to make these regulations for a smaller number of forces and thereby prevent more effective collaboration below the national level. I do not believe that that is what the noble Baroness intends. Her point about needing to achieve better standards across the police forces and better interoperability is well taken, and is part of what we are trying to achieve by this. At the moment, it is not satisfactory and we have got to move forward to achieve that. Clauses 11 and 12 will further strengthen the ability of the Secretary of State to provide a regulatory basis for convergence in support of the Information Systems Improvement Strategy that is being taken forward by the National Policing Improvement Agency with tripartite support. In the Green Paper we said that, if necessary, we would make changes in the legal framework in order to support this approach. We believe that much progress can be made through voluntary collaboration. A number of regions have already begun such collaboration and the NPIA is working closely with those collaborations. But we need to be certain that, if it is clear that there are benefits to the public and the police service generally, whether in terms of operational effectiveness or management of costs, and that those can be achieved only through forces acting together, we can require them to do so. We also recognise that force IT is at different stages of development and that by making the legislation more flexible we also make it more equitable to apply. All those things are trying to achieve what the noble Baroness was talking about when she spoke to these amendments. It is not our intention in any way to cut across the operational decision-making of chief officers and their police authorities. We are merely seeking to enable a more effective regime for promoting efficiency and effectiveness through co-operation, which is so fundamental and important. Existing safeguards are already in place to prevent excessive use of these powers. Regulations can be made under Section 53A only if the Secretary of State and Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary are satisfied of various matters set out under subsection (7). Those safeguards remain unaffected by the government amendment. Prior to any application of these powers criteria would also be developed in consultation with the police service using the existing legislative framework. Decisions about services would continue to be taken at a local level, but to an agreed set of criteria underpinned by guidance. We do not expect to use the powers to make regulations frequently and there is no immediate proposal to use the power. The Secretary of State would use the power only where he considered that it was necessary to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of a police force—I have already said that I am concerned about some of these aspects—and, again as required by legislation, only where the Chief Inspector of Constabulary considered it necessary to do so. In the light of my response, I hope that the noble Baroness is convinced that there is no need for this amendment and I would ask her kindly to withdraw it.