§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which organisations he has consulted concerning his proposed response to the 29 March 1998420W communication from the President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture; if he will place a copy of the response in the Library; and what is the reason for the delay in responding to this communication. [118978]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienOutside Government, we have consulted the Metropolitan police, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the Government of the Isle of Man.
The Government responded to the communication to which the Question refers on 16 October 1998. Delays in publication of the report are largely due to what appears to be a bureaucratic oversight by the Committee and then to its initial unwillingness to remove passages subject to legal professional privilege. It was published on 13 January 2000.
We hope to send the Government's response to the Committee on 19 April, and that the Committee will publish it within two or three weeks. This delay has enabled us to respond more fully to the Committee's recommendations in the context of the Government's consideration of an independent police complaints system. I will place a copy of the response in the Library when it has been published.