My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, and the noble Lords, Lord Coaker and Lord Carlile, for raising the very important issues arising from the terrible abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard, which has appalled us all and, as the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, says, time will not fade; every time our daughters leave the house it reminds us. It is imperative that Sarah’s family and the public understand how a police officer was able to commit such a terrible crime so that we can stop it from ever happening again and restore to our police forces that trust and confidence that the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, talked about.
As noble Lords will be aware, my right honourable friend the Home Secretary has recently announced her intention to launch a two-part non-statutory inquiry—I will go on to talk about that—into the circumstances surrounding Sarah’s murder. The first part of the inquiry will look at Sarah’s murderer and his tenure at the Metropolitan Police leading up to his conviction, as well as assessing any missed opportunities to hold him to account for his conduct.
The second part of the inquiry will look at any specific issues raised by the first part, which is likely to include wider issues across policing, including, but not limited to, vetting practices, professional standards, discipline, and workplace behaviour. A lot of noble Lords tonight have talked about the culture of the police, not just in the Met but all over the country. This is the opportunity to look at any systemic flaws in vetting or issues around policing culture that the noble Lord has highlighted in his amendment. We expect that the separate inquiry established by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, being led by the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, into the culture and standards of the force, will feed into part two of the inquiry established by the Home Office.
I very much recognise the arguments around establishing an inquiry under the Inquiries Act, but I also understand the critical need to provide reassurance to the public at pace. A non-statutory inquiry satisfies the need to move at pace, allowing greater flexibility,
and it can be tailored to the issues. We expect that the police forces for which Sarah’s murderer worked will all be witnesses to, and comply with, the inquiry. In February 2020 we amended regulations—this is an important aspect—to ensure that police officers are under a duty to co-operate as witnesses with investigations, inquiries and formal proceedings under the revised standards of professional behaviour. They are guilty of a disciplinary offence if they fail to do so.
The Home Secretary has also been clear that the Government will, following consultation with the chair, convert the inquiry into a statutory inquiry if it is determined that it cannot otherwise fulfil its functions. The Government are aiming to appoint a chair shortly and can then confirm the terms of reference. An update will be provided to the House at that point.
In relation to immediate concerns about the vetting of police transferees, the College of Policing updated its guidance this year having taken into account a recommendation from HMICFRS’s 2019 report Shining a Light on Betrayal: Abuse of Position for a Sexual Purpose. Forces should now assess details of transferees’ performance, sickness record, complaints, business interests, notifiable associations and corruption intelligence. Furthermore, the inspectorate is now undertaking an urgent thematic inspection of force vetting arrangements following a request from the Home Secretary. This will specifically look at whether forces are vetting transferees in accordance with the guidance.
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On the broader issue of violence against women and girls, there is sufficient evidence of the problem, most recently set out in the policing inspectorate’s report, and the Government are absolutely committed to tackling these issues. Our approach is set out in the Tackling Violence against Women and Girls Strategy, published in July. This will drive change in the response to crimes against women and girls and sets out our ambition for a whole-system approach, focusing on prioritising prevention, supporting survivors and pursuing perpetrators, underpinned by a stronger system. This will be supported by a domestic abuse strategy to be published later this year.
On mandatory violence against women and girls training for all officers, the College of Policing’s new police education qualifications framework is a very important step in raising standards in policing, including in relation to tackling violence against women and girls. The curriculum for entry covers several areas addressing violence against women and girls, including vulnerability and risk, victims and witnesses, public protection and evidence-based policing.
Additionally, the College of Policing has developed a range of other training products, including the Domestic Abuse Matters programme, which has been delivered to 29 forces to date. We continue to work closely with the college to see what more can be done to encourage further take-up of this programme. I am pleased to say that the Tackling Violence against Women and Girls Strategy contained commitments for the college to publish new advice for police first responders and investigators about so-called honour-based abuse, as
well as a new product which will advise police on how to respond to reports of sexual harassment in public places.
Amendments 122 and 123 seek to address the legitimate concerns of women and girls about the prospect of being arrested by a lone male officer—we had a debate about this the other day. The noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, and the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, are absolutely right about the vital importance of ensuring that officers are using their powers of arrest legitimately and recognising that this case has struck a most devastating blow to the confidence the public have in the police.
Powers to arrest and detain individuals are some of the most intrusive powers that the state has, and officers must use them lawfully and with accountability. For an arrest without warrant to be lawful, a person must be committing or about to commit an offence, or an officer must have reasonable grounds for suspecting that either of these has or will occur. The officer must also have reasonable grounds for believing the arrest to be necessary—for example, to prevent an individual from causing harm, or to allow the police to investigate the offence. When it is practicable to tell a person why their arrest is necessary, the officer should outline the facts, information and other circumstances which provide the grounds for believing this is the case. As the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, said, the public need to be very clear, and the Government need to set out that clarity for them. It is also important to recognise, as the noble Lord also said, that the vast majority of police officers carry out their work with integrity to protect the public and keep people safe, but I totally understand the concerns raised by this case.
As it stands, there is no prohibition on officers arresting individuals while patrolling alone, or on male officers arresting female individuals. As I said, I completely understand that horrific events such as this raise questions in the mind of the public. The Government recognise the importance of public confidence and how this has been shaken to the core by the events surrounding Sarah Everard’s murder. Police forces including the Met have issued some early guidance and reassurance for members of the public who might be concerned. Sir Stephen House, Deputy Commissioner of the Met, has said that the force will no longer allow plain-clothes officers to operate alone. That is a good start. Just last week, Dame Cressida Dick announced that plain-clothes officers will video call a uniformed colleague to confirm their identity when stopping a woman by herself.
Should individuals be concerned if they are approached by a lone officer, it is entirely reasonable under the circumstances for them to seek reassurance that they are acting legitimately. I would expect any officer receiving such a challenge from a member of the public to understand why it is being made and to take what action they can to assuage the concerns raised.
In conclusion, I welcome the opportunity afforded by these amendments—I know that noble Lords are not in amendment competition—to debate the implications of this horrendous case. We need to rebuild public confidence in the police. We think that the inquiry announced by the Home Secretary will play an important part in that process, including by
making recommendations in relation to police vetting and training. These issues, and the question of how the police exercise their powers of arrest, are being addressed in the meantime and, on that basis, I hope that the noble Baroness will withdraw her amendment.