§ 46. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Attorney-General whether he will cause an investigation to be made to ascertain the reason why it took the Director of Public Prosecutions so long to deal with the reports of the Countryman inquiry into alleged police corruption in the Metropolitan Police and why by 5 August 1982 he had taken no action on the reports submitted to him last March concerning alleged irregularities in the West Yorkshire and Kent police forces.
§ The Attorney-General:In some of the cases investigated by the Operation Countryman team, final decisions could not be taken by the Director until other, related criminal proceedings had been concluded. In other cases, further inquiries were requested by the Director after he received the initial report. I know of no case in which unacceptable delays occurred, but if the hon. Member wishes to draw a specific case to my notice I shall look into it.
The papers submitted to the Director in March concerning the investigation of allegations against officers of the West Yorkshire Metropolitan police and the Kent constabulary were not complete. Further reports have been submitted at intervals since March and the matter is currently receiving urgent consideration.