Police and Justice Bill

I understand the concerns of the Association of Police Authorities about putting the membership of police authorities into secondary legislation. I can give the assurance again from the Dispatch Box, as I have given it personally, that putting the requirements into regulations in secondary legislation is simply a way of making sure that we do not have to have primary legislation every time that we need a change. Given the provisions relating to health or to education, the provisions for membership are in secondary legislation. We are seeking to ensure that membership of police authorities can be flexible so that we do not have one rigid formula. Some police authorities will need to be larger than others to ensure democracy so that members of each authority can be represented on the new strategic authority. I am delighted that my right hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Denham) broadly welcomed the Bill’s provisions. He talked about seeking to get the balance right between driving performance, which has been absolutely key, and maintaining independence. My right hon. Friend has asked us to consider intervention powers carefully, and try to ensure that they are tailored to deal with the situations that might arise. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary referred to a backstop and a last resort. We do not want to be coming to the Dispatch Box whenever there is an issue involving local police forces. The powers need to be flexible enough to enable us to respond to situations that might arise as a result of a public inquiry, not simply a report from the inspectorate. My right hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen welcomed the idea of the national policing improvement agency, and asked us to ensure that there will be provision for embedding good professional practice, such as professionalising investigation projects and the work that has been done by the National Centre for Policing Excellence. I can give my right hon. Friend that reassurance. The first three mission-critical priorities of the improvement agency will be first, embedding neighbourhood policing; secondly, responding to demands to share information, as recommended by the Bichard inquiry; and thirdly, trying to ensure that all our forces throughout the country have better provision to respond to level 2 crime—serious and organised crime. That is one of the major factors behind the restructuring process that is taking place. My right hon. Friend also raised concerns about conditional cautions. I hope that I can give him some reassurance that it will be for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether a conditional caution is suitable and to identify the appropriate conditions. The hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) raised the issue as well. There is also the question of whether the police might take the lead in identifying cases that they think would be suitable for a conditional caution. It will be for the CPS to consider the conditions. There will be a separation between the arresting officer and the person who decides on the make-up of that caution, whether it is punitive or one of reparation. That is probably the right balance. I can also give the reassurance that the process is not designed to deal with serious and violent offenders. It is very much about first-time offenders, and particularly young people. I hope that if we can get the system to work quickly, someone committing criminal damage, for example, on a Wednesday, and admitting their guilt would be given an additional caution, and could soon be out in the local park, perhaps, making reparation. I hope that there can be a quick connection between the offence being committed and punishment. That is particularly effective when dealing with young people. Concerns have been raised about parenting orders and ensuring that registered social landlords and local authorities are sufficiently trained and have the necessary expertise. My hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Mrs. Moon) raised some similar issues, as did Liberal Democrats. There will be safeguards in place and we will issue statutory guidance. Many registered social landlords are now working in partnership with social services and education authorities as part of a multi-agency team to tackle antisocial behaviour, and we will ensure that they continue to operate in that way. My hon. Friend the Member for Stockton, South (Ms Taylor) made a telling intervention highlighting the right of the community to set priorities for local action and to ensure that both the police and local authorities are called to account to tackle those matters. That is an illustration of the fact that the Bill is about devolution rather than centralisation.