§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when the medical standards required to join the Metropolitan police were last reviewed; and what plans there are to update them;[126200]
(2) how many applicants to join the Metropolitan police have been rejected on medical grounds in each of the last five years.[126199]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe table sets out how many applicants to join the Metropolitan police have been rejected on medical grounds in each of the last five years:
Number of applicants Total number rejected on medical grounds Percentage rejected on medical grounds 1996 6,402 878 13.7 1997 2,845 443 15.5 1998 6,343 671 10.5 1999 6,115 804 13 20001 2,037 366 18 1To 15 June 2000 The Metropolitan police follow the Guidelines on Medical Standards of Entry to Police Forces issued by the Home Office in March 1998.
The Home Office is undertaking a review of the guidelines, which it is hoped will be completed later this year.
§ Mr. CasaleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will make available the formal response by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary report, "Winning Consent".[126969]
§ Mr. Straw"Winning Consent", the Report of an Inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), was published on 10 January. I refer to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member 89W for Enfield, North (Ms Ryan) on 10 January 2000, Official Report, column 21W. I have today arranged for a copy of the Commissioner's formal response to the Report, submitted to me in my capacity as Police Authority for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), to be placed in the Library.
The Inspection was carried out as a direct response to a recommendation of the Report of the Inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence.
It was one of the most detailed and thorough Inspections ever carried out by HMIC into specific aspects of policing in one police force, and examined community and race relations policies, and the handling of murder inquiries, in the MPS.
"Winning Consent" contains 41 recommendations. 29 relate to diversity issues, and 12 are concerned with the content of murder investigations.
I welcome the Commissioner's candid and very positive response. When the Report was published, I said that I expected senior management in the MPS to address the issues in it urgently and with vigour. This response confirms that they have done so. It demonstrates how much has already been achieved by the Metropolitan police in implementing the Report and reflects the Commissioner's total commitment to meet the challenges laid down and to continue the process of improvement.
The Report makes 41 recommendations. The Commissioner has accepted all of them (except one, which concerns a matter of professional, operational judgment, in the allocation of murder investigations within the Metropolitan police). Many of the recommendations are for action to be implemented over time. The Commissioner explains that there is a specific plan of action in place for each such recommendation; and some recommendations have already been implemented in full.
A fuller account of my assessment of the Commissioner's response is being placed together with it, in the Library.