HC Deb 28 July 2000 vol 354 cc1169-70W
Mr. Darvill

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish the final report of the Metropolitan Police Committee; and if he will make a statement. [133798]

Mr. Straw

I am today placing copies of the Final Report of the Metropolitan Police Committee in the Library. The report is also being published on the Metropolitan Police Committee (MPC) website, http://www.mpc.homeoffice.gov.uk/. My officials will write to representatives of the wide range of interested people and organisations who have previously received MPC publications, drawing their attention to the report's availability on the internet, and offering to provide hard copies where necessary.

The report covers the last period of the life of the Committee, from April 1999 to 2 July 2000, when I ceased to be the Police Authority for the Metropolitan police, with that role being taken by the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) from 3 July. The main part of the report is a record of advice on priorities, opportunities, challenges and context which the Committee offered as briefing to the incoming members of the MPA.

The Committee has played a major part in transforming the accountability of the Metropolitan Police Service. I believe it secured the respect and trust of successive Commissioners and their colleagues, who benefited from the variety of perspectives which the Committee brought to bear on their work, and from the objective and constructive way in which members explored, assessed and offered advice on the Metropolitan police's performance and plans.

The Committee's work and advice were, therefore, a great help to me, as Police Authority. Members engaged with the detail of the Metropolitan police in a systematic fashion which no Home Secretary could achieve alone.

The Committee has also been an invaluable bridge into the reformed arrangements for the governance of the Metropolitan Police Service. I am especially grateful for their work in preparing for the transition to the MPA, including in the formulation of the Policing and Performance Plan for this financial year. The Commissioner and his colleagues are keen to meet the challenges and the opportunities offered by the greater accountability which the MPA has brought with it. Working with the MPC helped very much in preparing for this.