Police Act 1997: Implementation of Parts III and V (Hansard, 26 October 1998)

§ Lord Williams of Mostyn

Detailed work is under way to implement Part III of the Police Act 1997 as quickly as possible. Sir Andrew Leggatt has been appointed as Chief Surveillance Commissioner and we are hoping to announce the appointment of six surveillance commissioners in the very near future. The draft code of practice has been the subject of a public consultation process and a revised code will be laid before Parliament shortly. We are also making good progress on the practical arrangements necessary to support the work of the commissioners. We are aiming to bring Part III into effect at the beginning of next year.

We have decided to implement Part V of the Act by establishing a criminal records agency. The agency will be responsible for issuing the three forms of criminal conviction/record certificates provided for by the Act and, when fully operational, it is estimated that over 10 million certificates will be likely to be issued on request each year. The agency will be self-financing through fees charged for each certificate.

There are substantial resource issues in terms of setting up the agency, police manpower and costs to employers and voluntary organisations. We are giving very careful consideration to the phasing in of certificates, with priority given to the protection of children and the arrangements for charging for certification. Account is also being taken of the emerging findings of the Inter-Departmental Working Group on Preventing Unsuitable People from Working with Children and Abuse of Trust.