23.09.11
MPs express concern over police reforms
Proposed police reforms starting next year are happening too quickly, and many key decision still have not been made, a report from the Home Affairs Select Committee states.
The committee has called for a six month delay in the phasing out of the National Policing Improvement Agency, as the functions it fulfills have not yet been allocated to any other body.
They also suggest that the National Crime Agency should take over the Met Police’s counter-terrorism role when it becomes operational in 2013, as this will lead to clearer accountability and improvements in policing.
The Home Affairs Select Committee said: “The scale of change is unprecedented and the scope for making mistakes is accordingly large. It is unacceptable that, more than a year after the government announced it was phasing out the National Policing Improvement Agency, it still has not announced any definite decisions about the future of the vast majority of the functions currently performed by the agency.
“The committee is not persuaded that the government can meet this timetable and recommends that it delay the phasing-out of the agency until the end of 2012.”
Keith Vaz, the chairman of the committee, said the home secretary was trying to achieve too much, too fast: “The police perform a difficult and dangerous task on behalf of the public and the continuing uncertainty about the future of many of the bodies involved in policing has the potential to be very damaging.”
Tell us what you think – have your say below, or email us directly at [email protected]