HL Deb 19 June 2000 vol 614 cc1-2WA
Baroness Gould of Potternewton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they will make available the formal response by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to the Report of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, Winning Consent. [HL2954]

Lord Bassam of Brighton

Winning Consent, the report of an inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), was published on 10 January. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary today arranged for a copy of the commissioner's formal response to the report, submitted to me in my capacity as Police Authority for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), to be placed in the Library.

The inspection was carried out as a direct response to a recommendation of' the report of the inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence.

It was one of the most detailed and thorough inspections ever carried out by HMIC into specific aspects of policing in one police force, and examined community and race relations policies, and the handling of murder enquiries, in the MPS. Winning Consent contains 41 recommendations. Twenty-nine relate to diversity issues, and 12 are concerned with the content of murder investigations.

I welcome the commissioner's candid and very positive response. When the report was published, my right honourable friend the Home Secretary said that he expected senior management in the MPS to address the issues in it urgently and with vigour. This response confirms that they have done so. It demonstrates how much has already been achieved by the Metropolitan Police in implementing the report and reflects the commissioner's total commitment to meeting the challenges laid down and continuing the process of improvement.

The report makes 41 recommendations. The commissioner has accepted all of them (except one, which concerns a matter of professional, operational judgement, in the allocation of murder investigations within the Metropolitan Police). Many of the recommendations are for action to be implemented over time. The commissioner explains that there is a specific plan of action in place for each such recommendation; and some recommendations have already been implemented in full.

A fuller account of my assessment of the commissioner's response is being placed, together with it, in the Library.