§ Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what briefings she has1286W received on the progress of the Croydon Employment Tribunal case involving her, the Royal Parks Constabulary and WPC Kaur; [7407]
(2) if she will estimate the cost to her Department's budget of preparing for and the hearing of the employment discrimination case of WPC Kaur; [7408]
(3) if she will make a statement on (a) the claim and (b) the response in her name to the discrimination case of WPC Kaur; [7406]
(4) if she will discuss the discrimination claim of WPC Kaur with (a) the operational head of the Royal Parks Constabulary and (b) the Police Inspectorate. [7409]
§ Dr. HowellsResponsibility for the subject of this question has been delegated to the Royal Parks Agency under its Chief Executive, William Weston. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from William Weston to Peter Bottomley, dated 18 October 2001:
I have been asked by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about the Employment Tribunal involving WPC Kaur, because this is an operational matter for which the Royal Parks Agency is responsible.We have fully briefed the Secretary of State on the case, and the decision to defend it. There is no need to keep her informed of the case as it progresses, but we shall, of course, inform her of the outcome and of any issues that arise from it. She will make a statement on the case, if it is appropriate for her to do so, depending on its outcome. It would be inappropriate for her to discuss the case with the Police Inspectorate because the Royal Parks Constabulary is not a Home Office Police Force.The Agency's legal fees up to the time that the hearing began were approximately £53,500, to which will have to be added counsel's fees for presenting the case and the costs of the RPC officers involved (and of former officers who now work for the British Transport Police) attending throughout the hearing. These can not be reasonably estimated until we know how long the hearing will last, and the full costs of the case cannot be assessed until the outcome is known.