HL Deb 01 February 1990 vol 515 cc415-6

3.18 p.m.

Lord Harris of Greenwich asked Her Majesty's Government:

Why the annual report of the Chief Constable of the British Transport Police is marked "Private and not for publication".

Viscount Davidson

My Lords, this is a matter for the British Transport Police committee. However, I understand that the committee considered the question of privacy last year and agreed that the chief constable's annual report for 1989 and subsequent years would be given a wider audience that in the past. Accordingly, the annual report for 1989, which will be presented to the BTP committee within the next few months, will not be restricted and its contents will be generally available. Meanwhile, as the noble Lord will know, copies of past reports are already available in the Library of this House.

Lord Harris of Greenwich

My Lords, I thank the noble Viscount for that reply. It gives me great pleasure because the matter was raised in the House on 26th January last year. Ministers undertook to discuss the matter and it has taken a year to make some progress. Nevertheless, I welcome the information given to us today because it is obvious that the travelling public have the right to know about the level of crime that takes place on British Railways.

Viscount Davidson

My Lords, I am delighted that the noble Lord is delighted.

Lord Underhill

My Lords, will the Minister say on whose authority the two embargos were placed on this year's annual report —first, that it is private and, secondly, that it is not to be published? I ask that question because in the annual reports of London Regional Transport and of British Rail reference is made to the British Transport Police. In the case of British Rail, details of offences and prosecutions are listed. That information should be amplified in the annual report of the BTP.

Viscount Davidson

My Lords, the precise arrangements are for British Transport Police and the police committee to decide. I understand that, as in previous years, a copy of the report will be available in the Library of this House and that copies will be distributed to main public libraries. I believe that is broadly in line with the practice in other police forces. That practice is largely a matter for chief constables to decide.

Lord Harris of Greenwich

My Lords, with great respect, the noble Viscount will find that chief constables of Home Office police forces, if I may describe them like that, have an obligation to publish an annual report and submit it through their police authority. Is the Minister aware that we very much hope that copies of the report will be made available not only to public libraries but also to the press so that the travelling public have information on this matter which affects their security when they travel on British Rail?

Viscount Davidson

My Lords, as I have already said, these are matters for the British Transport Police committee to consider and decide upon. The question of publication was considered by the committee following the appointment of a new chief constable in April 1989. The committee decided to make copies of future reports more widely available than in the past. However, the 1988 report had by then already been printed in the old form. I draw the attention of the noble Lord to the British Transport Police.

Lord Underhill

My Lords, is the Minister saying that if the BTP committee had decided to retain the confidentiality rule and the rule preventing publication, no one could overrule that? Surely a Minister could overrule that.

Viscount Davidson

My Lords, I am saying that the BTP committee has decided that the report will be available in future.