§ Mr. Strawasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state (a) the number of occasions on which he has exercised his powers under section 30 of the Police Act 1964 to require a chief constable or the Commissioner of Police of the city of London to submit a report to him, (b) the number of occasions on which he has exercised his powers under section 12 of the Police Act 1964 to require the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to submit a report to him, (c) the matters that he specified should be covered in such reports, and the police forces concerned and (d) whether any such reports have been published in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Giles ShawSection 30 of the Police Act 1964 is the general power under which the Department obtains information from the police forces on any aspect of police work. Information may be obtained in many ways, format and informal, and no central record is kept of requests to forces. It is not the practice to publish written reports provided by chief constables in response to such requests. Section 12 of the Police Act does not apply to the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
My right hon. and learned Friend requires reports from the commissioner under general powers in section 1 of the Metropolitan Police Act 1829. Under this power he receives and presents to Parliament the commissioner's annual report. In January this year the commissioner published his report to me on his future strategy for the Metropolitan police.