Police Appeals Tribunals Rules 2008

I thank the Minister for that comprehensive introduction of the rules and regulations. They were debated independently and separately in the other place, but I am happy that they should be considered together today. They form a composite part of the reform of the disciplinary and performance proceedings for police officers, so there seems no reason to separate them out. As the Minister said, the regulations arise out of the important Taylor report of 2004, which was undertaken against a background of concern over the overly ponderous proceedings—they were slow, as the Minister said—for dealing with complaints about police officers, either from the public or internally, and/or the poor performance of officers. We support these regulations. They are sensible, in our view, and sensible ways have been found to turn what were completely adversarial proceedings in front of a panel into a much more measured response, particularly for the less serious matters. Those can be dealt with by an immediate line manager in the first instance, following, as the Minister has said, an assessment of the alleged conduct. The changes to both the misconduct and the performance procedures are seen as a means of identifying lessons to be learnt from what has happened, both for the individual and for the service, and to provide guidance for the officer’s development and future behavioural performance. I see how guidance can be given on the latter—that is, the future behavioural performance of an individual—but how are the lessons learnt from an individual case to be promoted into one for the service? As I understand it, under Regulation 58 of the conduct regulations, the records of either the misdemeanour or the poor performance will have to be kept by the senior officers of an individual force and, consequently, will presumably be monitored. Will those then be collated by the Home Office or by some other body for further action? Since Parliament has been quite specifically made the keeper of the procedures, is it intended that a report will be brought from time to time to both Houses on the nature of the complaints and their outcomes? Perhaps the Minister could give us a response to that. My second main question arises from one raised by my honourable friend David Ruffley in the other place, which bears consideration again today. It concerns the training that will be available to the managers who will now have the responsibility for handling discipline or performance issues. In essence, those managers may be only marginally more senior than the person about whom the complaint has been made. In most organisations where this form of handling matters is the norm—by and large it is the norm across the public service—the department of human resources first ensures that the procedures are well understood by all staff and then makes certain that anyone who has to implement them has been formally trained in how to do so, to ensure that they are impartial and that they carry out the procedures in a proper manner. What guidance will be issued to that effect? I appreciate that the code is going to be brought forward, but this is a specific implementation of that code. I know that since 2004, when the Taylor report was finalised, considerable discussion has taken place within the service to ensure that the final legislation before us today is largely accepted and agreed, allowing for the fact that amendments had to be made to it. We are fortunate in this country to have a police force that is made up of officers who are wholly committed to providing a service of integrity and discipline, who are on duty day in and day out—they are never wholly off duty—and who largely deal with what comes about in a professional manner. We are therefore talking today about a relatively small number who do not live up to those standards. Some may infringe or breach the codes of discipline and some may behave unacceptably. It is to managing these that the regulations relate and we therefore welcome them. I have not touched on the appeals tribunals so far and I do not intend to do any more than ask the Minister about the appointment of the chair. The chair can make a decision that has a fundamental effect on an appeal from a person whose ways have been found to be in error. Where will the chair be appointed from? Will it be a public appointment? Will they have to have a legal qualification? Presumably, and I hope that the answer to this is yes, they will already have had tribunal experience. When you put into the hands of one person either the decision or the right to turn down the appeal, even when it is glaringly obvious that that is the right thing to do, there is a huge responsibility on that person. Finally, it has taken nearly four years for these regulations to come before us. I have no complaint about that because clearly they have been the subject of a great deal of consultation, but can the Minister give us the timetable for ensuring that the codes and procedures are introduced into the force so that it is not another four years before they are under way?