§ Lord Bradshawasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is proposed to move the National Centre for Policing Excellence from Bramshill; and [HL1746]
60WAWhether it is the case that the National Centre for Policing Excellence is to lose 25 per cent of its annual budget; and [HL1747]
How many staff would be displaced from Bramshill due to the proposed move of the National Centre for Policing Excellence to a new location; and [HL1748]
What temporary rental accommodation costs and office equipment costs will be incurred by the relocation of the National Centre for Policing Excellence; and [HL1749]
Whether the relocation costs of the National Centre for Policing Excellence would be saved if the facility remained at Bramshill. [HL1750]
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)The National Centre for Policing Excellence (NCPE) is part of Centrex, the Central Police Training and Development Authority. The chief executive of Centrex has advised us that the net expenditure of NCPE in 2003–04 will be approximately £12.1 million. The Centrex budget for 2004–05 is not yet finalised.
NCPE currently operates from several Centrex sites:
- Bramshill: operational support to the police service, and serious crime analysis.
- Wyboston: training in specialist law enforcement techniques.
- Cambourne: doctrine development.
>From April 2004, reorganisation within Centrex will incorporate within NCPE training in scientific support, which is based near Durham, and training in the use of the police national computer, currently based in Leicester.
The Centrex board decided in 2003 that co-location of the work on doctrine development, operational support and specialist law enforcement training would be important for the long-term effectiveness of NCPE. The available accommodation at Bramshill is not suitable or adequate to house all NCPE functions. A relocation project has been considering whether all or part of the work currently carried out at Bramshill should be moved to the same location as the work on doctrine development. The various options are currently under review. No final decisions have yet been taken about the number of staff who might be relocated.