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