ROAD CHECKS (Hansard, 4 May 1983)

§ Mr. Mellor
I beg to move amendment No. 31, in page 5, line 2, leave out from `(1)' to 'that' in line 4 and insert 'above— (a) if he has reasonable grounds for suspecting.'.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to take Government amendment No. 32.

§ Mr. Mellor
It was suggested in Committee that these amendments would be introduced on Report to introduce 362 consistency into the formulation of the reasonable suspicion test. I hope that they will commend themselves to the House.

§ Mr. Mayhew
I beg to move amendment No. 33, in page 5, line 15, after 'days', insert 'from the time of the authorisation'.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 34 to 37.

§ Mr. Mayhew
Amendments Nos. 33 to 36 are drafting amendments and I do not need to detain the House with an explanation of their effect. Amendment No. 37 makes it clear that a police officer in uniform has an express power to require a driver to stops his vehicle for the purposes of a road check. It was thought necessary to clarify what might be obvious but which was in need of clarification all the same.

§ Mr. Snape
Again I put on record the Opposition's concern about the provisions of the clause. The amendments improve the clause in the way outlined by the Minister, but I draw the attention of the House to subsection (3)(b). We remain in the difficulty that faced us in Committee. The phrase a pattern of crime in that area leads us to believe, to quote the geographical reference of my hon. Friend the Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Mr. Mikardo), that road blocks will be set up in Brixton rather than in Barnet. In the area that I represent, road blocks are more likely to be found in Sandwell than in Solihull.
We foresee dangers for police-public relations because of the way in which the clause has been drafted. We find it difficult to understand how a "serious arrestable offence" can be forecast by a police officer or how he can predict how some "serious arrestable" offences are likely to be committed. Those problems remain as baffling now as in Committee. I think it right again to put our misgivings about the clause on record.

§ Mr. Mayhew
I should have said that there was a printing error in amendment No. 37 and that (9A) should be (9D). I shall introduce a correction in another place.
It is important that we should always pay attention to the effect upon relations between the police and the community that may be anticipated from any powers that we confer. Clause 4 constitutes a restriction on the powers of police officers to stop vehicles and establish road blocks. Their powers are unlimited under section 159 of the Road Traffic Act 1972, but for purposes other than those bearing on the Road Traffic Act the present tight restrictions will cease to apply.

§ Mr. Mayhew
I beg to move amendment No. 226, in page 5, line 19, leave out `condition specified in subsection (3)(a) above is' and insert `requirements of subsection (3)(a)(i) or (ii) above are'.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 227 and 228.

§ Mr. Mayhew
This is a drafting amendment. Amendment No. 227 gives effect to an undertaking that I gave in Committee. It provides that the authorising of a road check other than in an emergency shall be in writing. That would happen in any event, but it is desirable to place the matter beyond doubt.
1.30 am
The last amendment in this group, No. 228, tidies up the drafting of subsection (9). It gives effect to undertakings that I gave in the Committee. The changes to the Bill as printed which the amendment introduces are as follows: first, it requires that the name of the officer authorising a road check shall be given on the authorisation itself; secondly, it requires the authorisation to record the serious arrestable offence in connection with which the road check was set up; and thirdly, it entitles anyone stopped at a road check to obtain on request a written statement of the reason for the setting up of the road check.

§ Mr. Snape
Again, perhaps I pre-empt the intervention of the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Griffiths), who will no doubt complain about the additional work load which will arise from the groups of amendments in general and from amendment No. 228 in particular.
My hon. Friends and I are grateful to the Minister for accepting all the points that we made in Committee. Amendment No. 228 gives full details of written authorisations, as we requested in Committee. I should like to take the opportunity again of thanking the Minister for the detail in the amendment.

§ Mr. Eldon Griffiths
The hon. Gentleman anticipated me. Yes, I complain. For every form that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has got rid of, it seems that the Home Office has created another.

§ Mr. Mikardo
I do not think that the points made by the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Griffiths) about the amount of paper work that is being created by the Bill should have been dismissed so flippantly in Committee and on Report. There is a real problem. I am not complaining about the paper work; I do not think the hon. Gentleman is complaining about it. We all accept it as necessary. Equally, we do not want the skills of police officers not to be properly exercised because they spend so much of their time as pen pushers.
There ought to be a proper management examination of the filling in, movement and handling of paper that will be required because of this legislation. I have always felt that there is not sufficient specialist clerical staff in the police service or, for that matter—although it would be out of order for me to discuss it now—in the armed forces. Too many people who have been trained for different duties and who have different expertise spend too high a proportion of their time as clerks. Until a few years ago this was the case with doctors, and the problem still exists in the police service.
The Minister is always willing to consider new ideas. He should ask a competent person to examine the new clerical procedures created by the Bill to see what would happen in the average police station. The number of man hours which will be involved should be worked out. The Minister should try to get greater productivity from police constables by relieving them of this work and giving it to civilian personnel.