Police and Justice Bill

I lend my support to Amendment No. 40. I am delighted that there is mention under paragraph (f) of monitoring,"““the performance of the force in complying with any duty imposed on the force by or under this Act, the Human Rights Act 1998  . . . or any other enactment””." I would have thought that the Minister would want to take back with her the need to look very seriously at the duty imposed on the police under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. We have been talking about who should make the appointment, how the appointment should be made, whether there should be geographical or political balances and so forth. However, the crucial need is to have an equality audit so that a diverse range of people are not in any way discouraged or disadvantaged, as is mentioned in paragraph (g). All these factors must be taken into account. They must be on the face of the Bill so that authorities and others will know their obligations under this very important legislation.