§ Lord Eltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they are taking to establish effective external inspection of the Metropolitan Police.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Earl Ferrers)At the invitation of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, arrangements have been established for Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to conduct a programme of independent inspections of selected parts of the Metropolitan Police. The first of these, which looked at the community involvement and crime prevention branch, was completed last year. An additional inspector was appointed to Her Majesty's Inspectorate on 1st April to help with the additional work resulting from inspections of the Metropolitan Police. Two further inspections are planned to start later this year, a thematic inspection of the Metropolitan Police use of firearms and related matters, and an inspection of Number 4 Area (South).