Police Appeals Tribunals Rules 2008

I am most grateful for the noble Baronesses’ support, for the prescient points that they make and for their correct appreciation of our police service and its probity, efficiency and loyalty. As the noble Baroness, Lady Harris, says, there are a few bad apples in every barrel, but fortunately there are far fewer in this country than in some others. A number of points were made, which I shall try to deal with in the order in which I took them down. Both noble Baronesses talked about training. When you change the culture of an organisation, it is important that people understand not only why you are changing it but how they are supposed to behave in the new situation. There will be a new national training package, which will be delivered by approved external providers. Training will be run for trainee managers, panel members and PCSOs. Police authorities are already training independent members. Home Office guidance will be issued and the IPCC is also training staff, so there is clearly a training package that ensures that everyone affected—no doubt, including the organisations representing police officers, PCSOs and others who will have an interest—will have the consultation that they will rightly demand on how their members will be dealt with and how their members as managers will deal with other people. The question of the chair was raised. As I said, the police appeals tribunals consist of a three-person panel for senior officers and a four-person panel for non-senior officers. The chair is selected through the Judicial Appointments Commission and must have five years’ legal standing—currently, nine or 10 are QCs. The second member is a Chief Inspector of Constabulary or another inspector nominated by him. The third member is the Home Office Permanent Secretary or another Home Office director appointed by him. For non-senior officers, the chair must be selected through the Judicial Appointments Commission and must have five years’ legal standing, as before. The second member is a member of the force’s police authority. The third member must be a chief officer from the officer’s force or another force, especially if greater independence is thought necessary. The fourth member would be a retired staff association representative. The chair has the casting vote; he would decide on papers and dismiss the case, if he thought that appropriate, without convening the panel. However, one can have some confidence in the quality, experience and qualifications of the chairs. I hope that that answer satisfies the noble Baroness. The other issue raised was how lessons will be learnt and how best practice will be spread across the service. The professional standards directorate will gather the learning experience and ensure that it is shared through formal guidance where appropriate, but all will learn together—managers, managed and the HR function. This is revolutionary only in relation to the police force, which is, as I said, a disciplined force. I hope that it will be benign, in the sense of not using the old, much more adversarial system, and more akin to the things that we have already in modern industry, in modern large companies—multinationals and nationals. They understand how to deal with human failing, how to take remedial action and how to assist people to improve performance; only if that fails do they look to other action. The final question to which I think I can give a supportive answer concerned the operative date, which is 1 December 2008. The final question, on which I will not be able to give the same satisfaction to the noble Baronesses as I hope my other answers have given, is about reporting to Parliament. This is a procedural matter that needs to be managed as a line management issue. It is clearly something that the Home Office will take a keen interest in, so we would clearly want to ensure that the Home Office was up to date on it, but it would be overkill, unless something surprising came out of the cultural change, to require reporting to Parliament. PCSOs’ discipline arrangements are covered in their contracts of employment. There will no doubt be consultation with associations representing civilian staff within the police service. Parliament will be kept informed via the Home Office. We intend to keep the operation of the regulations under review and any changes needed will be subject to further regulations being laid before your Lordships’ House and Parliament in general. I hope that those answers are sufficient to assuage those who asked the questions and I have delight in commending the instruments to the House. On Question, Motion agreed to.