Police Reform (Hansard, 9 July 1993)

§ Mr. Lang

The existing police forces in Scotland will continue after local government reorganisation but joint police committees willl be established where forces cover more than one council area.

In line with the principles of the citizen's charter, we wish our police forces to be seen to consult the public they serve about priorities, to publish annual targets and to report on performance achieved against those targets. I expect forces to build on their existing procedures for consulting the public, especially community councils, and for setting targets for various activities as required under the Justice Charter for Scotland. To ensure that performance can be measured against resources devoted to policing, we shall require chief constables to produce their annual reports on a financial year basis and I propose to take statutory power to prescribe classes of information which these reports should contain. Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary and the Commission for Local Authority Accounts in Scotland will continue to monitor the performance of forces. Reports by Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary on its annual inspections of police forces have been published for some time and we shall expect chief constables in future to make public their responses to the recommendations of inspection reports.

Our police forces have become multi-disciplinary bodies with a wide range of professional skills, deployed by civilians as well as by uniformed officers. We wish chief constables and their subordinate commanders within forces to have greater freedom to deply those resources. Accordingly, I intend to remove the statutory controls exercised by the Secretary of State and by police authorities over police and civilian establishments. The police grant payable to police authorities will become subject to a cash limit, though police authorities will retain a measure of discretion in determining expenditure. I shall take reserve powers to ensure that police authorities provide sufficient funds to maintain an efficient force with adequate manpower; and to ensure sensible collaboration and common standards between forces in the interests of efficiency—including standards for information systems. My Department will shortly be issuing fresh guidance on civilianisation to help ensure that police officers perform only those tasks requiring their powers. Some Scottish forces have already introduced local command units with budgets delegated to the local cammanders and we shall encourage wider adoption of these arrangements.

With my right hon. and learned Friends the Secretaries of State for the Home Department and for Northern Ireland, I shall be considering the recommendations of the report of the inquiry into police responsibilities and rewards and, after consultation with interested parties, will reach decisions on the recommendations of the report. I am also undertaking a review of police conduct and performance procedures in Scotland and, depending on responses to the consultation paper being issued this month, new procedures will be introduced to deal with unsatisfactory performance and unacceptable conduct in the police service. These changes together should enhance 305W the professionalism of the police by increasing flexiblity to reward good performance and to deal effectively with poor performance.

In conjunction with my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary I shall be considering legislative provision to ensure that constables from different jurisdictions have adequate powers throughout Great Britain.

Where primary legislation is required I propose to take the earliest suitable opportunity to introduce new provisions.

I believe that these proposals will ensure that, in keeping with the requirements of the justice charter, the organisation of the police in Scotland both achieves a proper accountability to local people, and promotes the efficiency and effectiveness of individual police forces in their fight against crime.