§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what will be the role of police/community consultative groups once the Greater London Authority and the Police Authority for London are established; if existing police/community consultative groups will be retained with the same composition and functions; and if he will make a statement. [79508]
§ Kate HoeyThe Government place considerable importance on there being effective community consultation on policing matters. Police and Community Consultative Groups (PCGGs) play a major role in this process, as I emphasised in the debate on section 17 of the Greater London Authority Bill in Standing Committee A on 16 March 1999,Official Report, columns 1276–82. PCCGs are not statutory bodies—but they are the primary means by which many police authorities choose to discharge their duty to obtain the views of local people.
When the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) is created, it will take on the duty, currently held by the Metropolitan police Commissioner, of obtaining the views of people in the Metropolitan police district. It will be for the MPA to decide how best to discharge this duty, just as police authorities elsewhere in England and Wales must decide how best to obtain the views of people in their area. If the MPA considers that PCCGs are working well, we have every reason to believe that it will want to retain them.
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