§ 9 Clause 31, page 32, line 34 at end insert "a notice in writing"
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonMy Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 9. These amendments, introduced by 88 the Government at Report stage in another place, clarify an aspect of the provisions in Clause 31 that are concerned with the removal of chief officers at the instance of the Secretary of State.
Where the Secretary of State intends to require a police authority to exercise its power to call upon the chief officer to retire or resign, subsection (2) of Clause 31 provides that he shall give the chief officer concerned notice of his intention and an explanation of his reasons. In contrast, the provisions of the new Section 42(2A) of the Police Act 1996, as inserted by Clause 31(2), require the Secretary of State to give a copy of the notice to the police authority, but do not explicitly require that the notice should include his grounds for acting.
The chief officer will receive both notice of the Secretary of State's intention and the grounds for doing so, and it is only right to ensure that the police authority has the same information. One would assume that this would normally happen, but the clause as originally drafted meant that there was a theoretical possibility that it might not. These amendments provide that notice given to the chief officer incorporates the Secretary of State's reasons for acting, so that when a copy of the notice is sent to the police authority it will be aware of those reasons.
§ Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 9.—(Lord Falconer of Thoroton.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.