My Lords, Clause 110 provides the legal basis for the College of Policing to set standards for the police in England and Wales. This is the first of a number of provisions relating to the college and I think it would be helpful to explain some of the context for them.
The ability of the police to fight crime depends, for the most part, on the skills and abilities of the brave men and women who serve as police officers and police staff. As I glance around the House, I note several noble Lords who can speak with great experience and expertise of that area. The threats police officers and police staff must deal with on a daily basis are significant. Neither the Government nor the police can afford to neglect training and development. To do so jeopardises the safety of all our communities.
The arrangements this Government inherited were insufficient. Although the National Police Improvement Agency had responsibility for police training, its remit was too broad and its work too complex for it to deliver effectively for the police and the public. Given the severity of the threat the police and public face, the Government believe that a more focused set of arrangements are required. Part of those requirements involves the creation of the professional body for the police—the College of Policing.
The College of Policing’s mission will be to support the fight against crime and protect the public by ensuring professionalism at all levels in policing. It will do this through delivery in five core areas of responsibility. Those areas include: setting standards of professional practice; accrediting training providers and setting learning and development outcomes; identifying, developing and promoting good practice based on evidence; supporting police forces and other organisations to work together to protect the public and prevent crime; and identifying, developing and promoting ethics, values and standards of integrity.
The Government intend that the creation of the college should cement the status of the police as a profession. As a profession, the police will need to take greater responsibility for setting standards. Too often, those standards have been led by government. Clause 110 changes this balance. The clause provides that in future regulations regarding rank, qualifications for appointment and promotion, service on probation and personal records for police officers and special constables will be prepared by the college. The college will also prepare regulations relating to training for police officers and qualifications for deployment to particular roles. Finally, if the college believes it to be necessary, it can also prepare regulations regarding police practice or procedure.
As my right honourable friend the Home Secretary will continue to make these regulations and will continue to be accountable to Parliament for them, she will retain a right of veto. This power will be exercised if the regulations prepared by the college would impair the efficiency and effectiveness of the police, would be unlawful, or would for some other reason be wrong. This final power of veto may be used where the regulations as drafted are flawed, insufficiently clear or do not achieve the policy intention that the college hopes to achieve. In such circumstances the Home
Secretary could ask the college to prepare a fresh draft of the regulations so as not to present flawed regulations before Parliament.
As I am sure noble Lords are aware, the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee has commented on this clause. Indeed, it has issued an additional report which was published only this morning. The Government are most grateful to the committee for both its reports and we have already dealt with a number of amendments that implement its recommendations. As with its other recommendations, we have given careful consideration to the committee’s points about the delegation of the Home Secretary’s regulation-making powers as provided for in Clause 110.
The Government agree with the committee that regulations made under Section 53A of the Police Act 1996, governing the practices and procedures of police forces, should be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure in all cases. Police practice and procedure are matters of legitimate public concern. We all have an interest in the way that police officers go about their duty and it is only right that Parliament is able to scrutinise the work of the college in this area.
The Bill proposes to give the college two powers regarding standards of police practice and procedure. First, it proposes to give it a power to issue statutory codes of practice under Section 39A of the Police Act 1996. In the event that the college exercises this power, chief constables must have regard to any such code. Secondly, the Bill proposes to give the college a power to make changes to police regulations concerning practice and procedure. The Government believe that, in the event that the college wishes to make matters of police practice or procedure mandatory, Parliament should have the opportunity to debate and approve such regulations before they come into force. We have accordingly put forward Amendments 56P and 56Q.
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However, in respect of regulations under Sections 50 and 51 of the Police Act 1996 and Section 97 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, the Government believe that the negative resolution procedure should continue to apply. These regulations relate to limited aspects of the governance, administration and conditions of service of police forces and to police training. These are more akin to regulations on pay and discipline, which are subject to the negative resolution procedure. There is no need for regulations prepared by the college to receive an enhanced level of parliamentary scrutiny when regulations made under the same powers on matters of at least equal significance, such as police pay, do not. Moreover, there may be occasions where such regulations need to be made quickly, and the application of the affirmative procedure would preclude that.
The Delegated Powers Committee was particularly concerned about the regulation-making power in Section 53A of the 1996 Act. We believe that making those regulations subject to the affirmative procedure largely addresses that concern.
The Government have always been clear about the importance of the College of Policing being independent of central government. The Government have taken a
number of decisions that have allowed the college to operate independently since its creation, and we will work with the college to explore its longer-term ambition of securing a royal charter. However, there are several steps to be taken before active consideration can be given to helping the college to succeed in that aim. In particular, the college needs to reduce its reliance on central government for funding, raising more of its revenue itself through trading.
Although the college is independent, the Government believe that there are some areas where it should be accountable to Parliament. I have already spoken about the role that Parliament will play in the event that the college chooses to exercise the powers that the Bill proposes to confer on it regarding police regulations. I should now like to spend some time focusing on another area where I believe there should be increased scrutiny by Parliament: the college’s ability to charge fees.
As noble Lords will be aware, the college already has the powers that it needs to trade through its existence as a company limited by guarantee. However, Amendment 56QZA extends the college’s accountability to Parliament for some of the products and services that it will sell which may be considered services of a public nature. The proposed new clause would allow the Home Secretary to specify the categories of such services in secondary legislation—for example, examinations for sergeants and inspectors. As with the provisions relating to the standards that the college will set, this provision will continue to remain in place even if the college succeeds in its aim of gaining a royal charter. This amendment would ensure that there was proper ministerial and parliamentary oversight of the college’s charging framework. It would also ensure that the college was able to develop commercially so that it could thrive as the independent professional body for the police.
For the reasons I have set out, I commend Clause 110 and these amendments to the Committee.