§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines govern the conduct of police investigations and subsequent prosecution proceedings in care home abuse cases. [128391]
§ Paul Goggins:The Government's publication "Complex Child Abuse Investigations: Inter-Agency Issues" and the Association of Chief Police Officers' Senior Investigating Officers Handbook both cover the conduct of police investigations into complex historical abuse cases. This is in addition to more general guidelines in the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 and accompanying code and the Crown Prosecution Service code for Crown prosecutors.
§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Government will take steps to encourage early consultation on the conduct and direction of investigations between the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service in cases of abuse in children's homes. [128393]
§ Paul Goggins:These steps have already been taken. The Government issued inter-agency guidance on complex child abuse investigations in June 2002. The guidance stresses the need to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service are involved at an early stage as 49W appropriate, while noting that they should not be involved in operational decisions about the conduct of an investigation.
This approach is further supported by the guidance in the Association of Chief Police Officers' Senior Investigating Officers Handbook.