§ Baroness Masham of Iltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will instruct the police to allow defendants in police custody to make one successful telephone call (i.e., where contact is made with the person telephoned), disregarding any call where there is no reply.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Glenarthur)TheCode of Practice for the Detention, Treatment and Questioning of Persons by Police Officers, issued under Section 66 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and approved by this House on 9th December 1985, makes provision for the right of detained persons to communicate with others. Paragraph 5.1 provides that they may make up to three attempts to contact a person by telephone, and the custody officer has discretion to allow further attempts. Paragraph 5.7 provides that a detained person may speak on the telephone for a reasonable length of time to one person unless the police have grounds, under Annex B of the code, to delay the exercise of this right.