Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill

I am given to understand by my noble friend Lord Hunt that I am not required to speak for more than half an hour or so to these amendments. Ever willing to oblige, I shall endeavour to be reasonably concise and thereby break the habit of a lifetime. This grouping is slightly odd because Amendments 92 to 100 relate to the financial aspect of the work of the commissioner and the arrangements for the precepts. The other amendments relate to other aspects that are not quite connected. Perhaps they should have been degrouped, but as they are not I will confine myself to the first group of amendments. They cover a number of issues. Amendment 92 would require the precepts to be levied by the police commissioner or authority, however constituted, separately from the council tax demand and the non-domestic rates demand. That is in the interests of transparency. As the whole case that the Government advanced for the Bill is one of accountability and transparency, it seems sensible that the people who are paying local taxation towards the cost of the police service should be aware of that separately from the ordinary demands that they will get for the rest of the local authority’s services. Separate precepts should be the order of the day. In addition, however, there is the question of how the precept is derived in the first place. Amendment 93 raises again the question of local authority involvement in the process. Under Amendment 93, the local authority should have the opportunity to review the proposed precept. Other amendments require the police commissioner to have regard to any representations made by local authorities in respect of the precept, and the panel to have the opportunity to amend, rather than simply veto, the precept. The point is that local authorities have an interest in the totality of the taxation raised in their communities, as do the communities. It does not seem right that a significant proportion of local council tax—I remind your Lordships that it is something like 11 per cent of council tax in England and 15.5 per cent in Wales—goes towards the police service. That is a significant chunk of local expenditure. It is unreasonable to divide into separate compartments what has to be levied and what a local community can be expected to pay. There needs to be an overview and, given that, in the end, the commissioner will take a decision. It is clearly right that the local authority should have an opportunity to contribute to the debate about the precise levy that will be required as part of the overall pattern of expenditure and taxation in the area. Again, in the interests of accountability and transparency, we need to devise a system where those factors are facilitated and not obscured. That is the thrust of these amendments. I beg to move.