§ The Minister for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety (Ms Hazel Blears)I have today placed in the Libraries of both Houses copies of the results from the consultation paper "Policing: Building Safer Communities Together".
On 4 November 2003 a major consultation on police reform was launched with the publication of the above paper. A shorter questionnaire version aimed at the general public was also published on 27 February 2004. These documents set out the Government's vision for the future of police reform and posed a series of questions on how to achieve this. We want to build a modernised, truly representative police service which is more visible and accessible and which delivers core national standards of policing to all communities within a framework which enables forces to respond to local priorities.
The response to the consultation was very encouraging and the clear message received was that, while there are areas in which debate and discussion will continue, we are heading in the right direction. In particular there was a strong appetite for greater community engagement, more visible and accessible policing and giving local people a greater say in determining local community safety priorities.
Additional copies of the consultation results, and the original consultation paper and questionnaire are available on the police reform website www.policereform.gov.uk.