§ Mr. BoothTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are his proposals for bringing competition to bear on police personnel services. [42219]
815W
§ Mr. MacleanIt is the Government's intention that compulsory competitive tendering should be introduced to police white collar support services as part of a rolling programme. Detailed consultation proposals for police personnel services were issued on 24 February 1995. The Government have now considered the responses received from the police service, local authority associations and other interested bodies.
The Government have decided that police authorities will be subject to the same CCT regime for personnel services as other authorities defined under the Local Government Act 1988, except for a number of specific exemptions. The exemptions centre on the provision of operational and specialist training, together with the personnel work associated with police complaints and discipline, unsatisfactory performance proceedings against police officers, and discharging probationary constables. The exemptions will protect operational policing, security, and management functions special to the police service.