§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what links the Scarman Centre has with police forces in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [136466]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe Scarman Centre has various formal and informal links with United Kingdom police services.
The Scarman Centre provides accreditation and some academic input for the International Commanders Programme, which is run by the International Police Studies Department at National Police Training, Bramshill. The Centre also provides the academic framework for the new-style Accelerated Promotion Course (APC) which began in September 2000 and will be the awarding body for the MSc in Police Leadership and Management which may be awarded to students who successfully complete the whole APC programme.
The Scarman Centre has links with West Midlands Police who are providing consultancy to a Department for an International Development funded research project 395W being conducted in Russia on crime reduction. The Centre also has links with the Metropolitan Police who are providing consultancy to a Foreign Office funded research project being conducted in the Ukraine on community policing.
The Scarman Centre maintains informal contacts for the purposes of research with a number of police forces in England and Wales.
Under the terms of the Home Office contract with Ionann Management Consultants Limited for the provision of Community and Race Relations training to the police service, the Scarman Centre is providing independent research and evaluation of the effectiveness of the Community and Race Relations training and consultancy being provided by Ionann.
In addition the Scarman Centre has police officers enrolled on its degree programme in policing, criminal justice, security management and risk, crisis and disaster management.