§ Ms Oona KingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of time was the Police Complaints Authority took to deal with complaints in the last 12 months; and what the PCA guidelines stipulate this should be. [129464]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe Police Complaints Authority (PCA) agreed targets for the completion of each stage of the complaints process in a joint statement of intent with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in 1992. The PCA's performance against these targets is set out in its annual report.
In 1998–99, the last year for which figures are available, 63 per cent. of PCA supervised investigations were completed within the agreed target of 120 days. The PCA took an average of 47 days to complete its discipline review of completed investigations, against an agreed target of 28 days.