§ Mr. Strawasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what studies, if any, have been carried out to assess the effectiveness of police authorities, and the accountability of chief constables to them; and if any such studies can be made available in the Library.
§ Mr. WhitelawApart from the report of the Royal Commission on the police in 1962, the hon. Member may like to have his attention drawn to the report summarised on page 4 of the report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary for 1975.
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§ Mr. Strawasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many referrals of a requirement to report have been made by the chief constables in exercise of the powers under section 12(3) of the Police Act 1964 since that section of the Act came into force;
(2) how many requirements to report made by a police authority and referred to him under section 12(3) of the Police Act 1964 have been confirmed by him under section 12(4) since that section of the Act came into force.
§ Mr. BrittanReference to departmental records has brought to light only one case under section 12 of the Police Act 1964 in which a police authority has, at the request of the chief constable, referred to the Secretary of State a requirement to submit a report. In this case, which was in 1965, the requirement was not confirmed.