Police Authorities

HC Deb 19 November 1992 vol 214 cc401-2

8. Mr. Dunn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reorganise county police authorities along regional lines; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke

We are considering a range of issues concerning the future of the police service, including the role and structure of police authorities. We have yet to reach firm conclusions.

Mr. Dunn

The Home Secretary will know that, in the context of the organisation of police forces, I belong firmly to the school which says that reforms are all very well so long as nothing is changed. Can my right hon. and learned Friend give me an absolute guarantee today that the county of Kent constabulary will continue to be controlled from Maidstone and not from a remote regional centre such as Guildford?

Mr. Clarke

My hon. Friend puts forward an approach to reform which would have done credit to Lord Palmerston. We have not yet reached any conclusions on the future structure or shape of police forces. We have not committed ourselves to any change and have not yet addressed the question whether Maidstone or Guildford is the best place for the headquarters of the police service in my hon. Friend's constituency.

Mr. Bermingham

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman bear it in mind that as the Crown prosecution service is divided into 12 areas throughout the United Kingdom, it would be wise to reconsider their distribution. bearing in mind that it is useful if Crown prosecution areas are coterminous with local police areas, as they are at present?

Mr. Clarke

I am full of praise for the Crown prosecution service, but, with respect, the delivery of a police service is somewhat different. The key question in the case of policing is how to retain the necessary local element for community policing, with responsibility being devolved to an officer who has charge of the beat officers in an area that he knows well and with the right headquarters structure above that—a structure which is not too oppressive and distant and can give the necessary headquarters support to a modern police service. The questions that we have to address here are not exactly equivalent to those which have to be addressed in the case of the Crown prosecution service.