§ Mr. MartlewTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to change the police disciplinary regulations; and if he will make a statement. [121093]
§ Ms BlearsWe are reviewing the two existing sets of misconduct regulations—set out in the Police (Conduct) Regulations 1999 and the Police (Conduct) (Senior Officers) Regulations 1999, in order to remove unnecessary differences between them.
In addition, we will be introducing changes to the regulations provided for in section 36 of the Police Reform Act 2002. In summary these will:
- (a) enable the Independent Police Complaints Commission to participate in disciplinary proceedings;
- (b) allow other persons to participate in, or be present at, disciplinary proceedings; and
- (c) change the current caution in order to permit a disciplinary hearing to draw adverse inferences from a police officer's failure to mention a fact when questioned about an alleged breach of the Code of Conduct.