HC Deb 05 February 2001 vol 362 cc368-9W
Mr. McNamara

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the establishment and seniority structure of investigative officers in the office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland; how many officers have been appointed;

how many appointees came from (a) RUC (i) serving and seconded and (ii) former officers and (b) other United Kingdom police forces (a) serving and seconded, (b) former officers and (c) Garda Siochana (1) serving and seconded and (2) former officers; and if he will list the nationality, background and previous experience of other appointees. [144383]

Mr. Ingram

The composition of the investigating officers of the Office of the Police Ombudsman is fairly typical of the usual team and ranking structures established to undertake the investigation of complaints and other matters made against the police. The investigation group is headed by a chief investigating officer assisted by senior investigating officers, each of whom are responsible for investigation teams comprising a number of investigating and assistant investigating officers.

Currently the ombudsman has appointed 32 investigating officers across all ranks. Of those appointed, none are serving, seconded or former officers of the RUC or the Garda Siochana; one is a former officer of a United Kingdom police force; one is a former officer of HM Forces Military Police; and eight are serving officers seconded from other United Kingdom police forces.

The majority of investigating officer appointees are United Kingdom citizens with the remainder being made up of nationals from America, Australia and South Africa. Although not all of the investigating officers are from a police background, all have investigative experience in other areas of employment.

Mr.McNamara

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has drafted and agreed operating protocols for investigative officers. [144384]

Mr.Ingram

For the Office of the Police Ombudsman to fulfil its investigative function it is necessary to establish protocols with a number of agencies, some of which have already been established, e.g. with the Forensic Science Agency, and a number of other protocols are currently in negotiation. A series of internal protocols have also been established.

Mr.McNamara

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many complaints have been received by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland; and how many investigations have been initiated. [144385]

Mr.Ingram

Since the Office of the Ombudsman became operational on 6 November 2000 the total number of complaints received by 2 January 2001 was 602, and in the same time 234 investigations have been initiated.