§ 56. Mr. MaclennanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the Commissioner of the Metropolitan police about proposals to create a national investigative bureau; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydWe have not received any formal representations, but we welcome the views the Commissioner expressed in his speech to the Police Foundation on 6 July as being an important contribution to the debate on the organisation of policing to combat the challenge of serious crime. At this stage I believe that it would be premature to create an operational national unit to investigate serious crime, which would involve a substantial reorganisation of our present police force structures. Co-ordination of criminal intelligence is, however, essential. I am, therefore, asking the police service to consider how we might build on the excellent work of the regional crime squads, the national drugs intelligence unit and the national football intelligence unit to improve the collection and dissemination of criminal intelligence about all kinds of serious crime, perhaps by the creation of a national criminal intelligence unit.