§ Captain Pluggeasked the Home Secretary the reasons for the continued refusal of many chief constables to allow members of the legal profession access to statements taken by police officers after 1604W accidents; whether he is aware that this policy has been described by a county court judge as a public scandal; and whether he will look into the whole matter?
§ Mr. H. MorrisonWhen a member of the public makes a statement to the police, this is usually done on the understanding that the statement will be used for police purposes only and will not be communicated to other people; and this confidence in the discretion of the police encourages the public to assist them. Chief constables are therefore reluctant as a general rule to pass on such information to private people or their solicitors for the purpose of civil actions. The general practice, however, is to givebona fide applicants the names and addresses of witnesses, so that the applicant may himself get in touch with the witnesses if he wishes.