§ Mr. Soleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if the Metropolitan police instruction book or parts thereof is a classified document;
(2) whether the provisions of chapter 10, paragraph 12F ('Use of truncheons') of the Metropolitan police instruction book are advisory or mandatory;
(3) whether the provisions of the Metropolitan police instruction book chapter 4, paragraph 40 ('Instruction Book') are advisory or mandatory;
(4) whether the instructions given in the Metropolitan police instruction book are advisory or mandatory to police officers;
(5) whether the provisions of chapter 6 of the Metropolitan police instruction book for the reporting of occurrences are advisory or mandatory in particular with regard to report book rules: chapter 6, paragraph 2: no erasure or obliteration of notes or reports is permissible at any time; chapter 6, paragraph 3: leaves must not be torn out for any purpose; chapter 6, paragraph 4: no blank spaces will be left; chapter 6, paragraph 5: overwriting is forbidden; chapter 6, paragraph 6: there must be no writing between lines; chapter 6, paragraph 7: all statements must be written down in the exact words used by speakers; chapter 6, paragraph 8(1) and (2): recording of time, places and names; chapter 6, paragraph 9: notes—where to be made; chapter 6, paragraph 10: production of entries to a senior officer; chapter 6, paragraph 11: use in evidence; chapter 6, paragraph 12: production at court; chapter 6, paragraph 13: recording of telephone numbers.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe instruction hook is marked "restricted" and "for police use only". An edited version, revised to exclude material which the commissioner considered it would be operationally damaging to disclose, was placed in the Library on 24 February 1983.
Some provisions of the book are directions, breaches of which may make an officer liable to disciplinary proceedings, and other parts are guidance. Chapter 4 (paragraph 40) and chapter 6 (paragraphs 2-12) are directions; chapter 6 (paragraph 13) is guidance; and chapter 10 (paragraph 12F) contains both directions and guidance.