§ 13. Mr. Litterickasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he remains satisfied with the operation of the new police complaints procedure.
§ Dr. SummerskillYes. Sir.
§ Mr. LitterickDoes the Minister accept that, although we on the Government Benches welcome the new police complaints procedure as a step towards making the police more accountable to the public, it now seems more difficult 625 for individual members of the public actually to bring a complaint against the police, since the way in which the new system works makes it necessary for victims of police violence to provide far more specific information—for instance, about the identity of their assailants—than was ever required before, and that this tends to check the flow of legitimate complaints against the police?
§ Dr. SummerskillI would prefer to comment on criticisms of the new system when we receive the first annual report of the board. It came into operation only on 1st June last year. That is a comparatively short period. We expect the report to be published on 4th May. We shall then be able to assess the success of its operations.