§ Ms Glenda JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what research his Department has undertaken into the operation of the appropriate adults scheme;
(2) what stage his Department's working party on appropriate adults has reached; and when it is due to report;
(3) what proposals his Department has to amend the appropriate adults scheme.
§ Mr. MacleanThe appropriate adults working group, set up in response to a recommendation made by the Royal Commission on criminal justice, has met twice. It has commented during the public consultation stage on the draft revised codes of practice issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, and expects to be ready to consult widely about its proposals in the new year.
The Department has recently supported research studies by John Moore's university, Liverpool, and by Loughborough university and MENCAP on the working of the appropriate adults scheme. It is also supporting three other research projects about entry into the criminal justice system and the PACE—Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984—codes which deal, among other things, with the scheme.