Private Investigators Bill

HC Deb 04 March 1982 vol 19 cc206-7W

Mr. Meacher

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he is not prepared to give support to the Private Investigators Bill put forward to his Department by the Association of British Investigators, in view of the fact that it satisfies his requirements for self-regulation.

Mr. Mayhew

As I stated in reply to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Mr. Steen) on 19th January 1981, we considered the need for statutory control of private investigators as part of our review of the private security industry, and concluded that the case for such control had not been made out. We think it is preferable to support and encourage self-regulation . By this we mean voluntary action, not the statutory impositon of requirements backed by penal sanctions. We have looked at this again recently, and our view remains unchanged.