here - United Kingdom Parliament

79WS
Written Ministerial Statements
1 DECEMBER 2010
Written Ministerial Statements
80WS
Act in favour of local communities, ensuring that local
residents’ views and concerns are heard and considered
and they get the type of night-time economy they want.
The measures being introduced will also provide the
police and licensing authorities with the tools they need
to more effectively address alcohol-related crime and
disorder in the night-time economy. Tackling alcohol-related
crime and disorder is not something that can just be
done centrally. These measures will enable issues to be
addressed at a local level, with local communities taking
greater responsibility for tackling problems in their own
areas.
The full Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill
is today being published on the Parliament website:
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/. The Government
response to the Rebalancing the Licensing Act consultation
will be available on the Home Office website: http://
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs/alcohol/rebalancingconsultation
and copies will be placed in the House
Library.
Policing in the 21st Century
The Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice (Nick
Herbert): Today, alongside the publication of the Police
Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, we are publishing
the Government’s response to the “Policing in the
21st Century” consultation, which set out the most
radical reforms to policing in at least 50 years, putting
the public at the heart of policing.
Directly-elected Police and Crime Commissioners
are central to our proposals to replace bureaucratic
accountability with democratic accountability. The
Government are confident that Police and Crime
Commissioners will make forces truly accountable to
the communities they serve, ensuring that resources are
properly targeted to where they are needed and giving
the public a greater say in measures to reduce crime and
improve community safety.
We are also clear that the long held principle of
operational independence, where those operating in the
office of the constable are able to make independent
decisions on how to use their legitimate coercive powers
on behalf of the state will continue to remain the
cornerstone of the British policing model.
We received approximately 900 responses to the
consultation and we are grateful to all those who responded.
The response document we are publishing today summarises
the views that we received and sets out next steps in
implementing our reforms, which include:
replacing existing police authorities with directly elected
Police and Crime
Commissioners (PCCs), who will hold forces to account and
strengthen the bond between the police and the public;
new police and crime panels to provide important scrutiny
of PCC functions, with membership including both top-tier
and district councils—giving district councils formal involvement
in the governance of policing for the first time;
a framework of checks and balances to scrutinise PCCs and
a more independent Inspectorate of Constabulary;
strengthening professional discretion, cutting bureaucracy
and freeing up police officers’ time;
greater collaboration between police forces to increase public
protection and save money; and
phasing out the National Policing Improvement Agency and
creating a powerful new National Crime Agency to lead the
fight against organised crime and strengthen our border
security. This will be supported by a clearer framework for
local PCCs and their forces, set out in a new strategic
policing requirement (in response to some of the feedback
we received during the consultation).
We have listened closely to what people have had to
say and our final proposals take this in to account. For
example, the Police Reform and Social Responsibility
Bill that we are also publishing today provides more
detail on the powers and duties that PCCs and police
and crime panels will have and how PCCs will work
with their force and other local providers.
The full Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill
is published on the Parliament website. The Government
response to the “Policing in the 21st Century”consultation
will be available on the Home Office website and will be
placed in the House Libraries.
Justice and Home Affairs Pre-Council Statement
The Secretary of State for the Home Department
(Mrs Theresa May): The Justice and Home Affairs
Council is due to be held on 2 and 3 December in
Brussels. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State
for Justice and I intend to attend on behalf of the
United Kingdom. As the provisional agenda stands, the
following items will be discussed:
The Council, beginning in Mixed Committee with
Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland (non-EU
Schengen States), will receive an update from the presidency
on the state of play of the Schengen Information System
II (SIS II) project.
Next there will be a discussion of the Commission
report on the implementation of the Council conclusions
on 29 measures for reinforcing the protection of the
external borders and combating illegal immigration.
The UK has not yet received a copy of the report;
however, we expect that the Commission will use this
item to inform member states of progress regarding
these measures. The measures include: Frontex working
arrangements; exchange of relevant information between
FRONTEX, other EU agencies and member states;
development of the European Surveillance System—
EUROSUR; exchange of information on illegal
immigration, trafficking in human beings and falsification
of documents; and solidarity and the integrated
management of external borders by member states.
After Mixed Committee the Council will receive an
update from the presidency on the progress being made
on asylum and legal and illegal migration and seek to
ensure that the following four presidencies (Hungary,
Poland, Cyprus and Denmark) remain on course to
meet the Commission’s 2012 deadline for delivery of the
Common European Asylum System (CEAS). The UK
Government believe that the challenges that Europe
faces on asylum and illegal immigration are better
addressed by practical co-operation than by further
legislation. We do not consider the adoption of a common
EU asylum policy to be right for Britain. But we do
believe there are many issues in the area of asylum and
migration on which all EU member states have much to
gain by working together. We will be active in promoting
effective cooperation, and will consider participation in