Home Office
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Review of the police and criminal evidence act will cut bureaucracy
Plans to streamline police powers, cut red tape and increase the time officers can spend on frontline duties were announced by Home Office Minister David Hanson today.
Measures in the review of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act
(PACE) include giving chief constables greater powers to use
back-office staff for routine tasks and simplifying pre-charge
bail procedures.
The programme of changes to PACE was
set out after an 18-month public consultation which found the Act
is valued and endorsed by the police, and the public supported the
proposals.
New measures earmarked for the Act will help
reduce bureaucracy and increase frontline time by:
•
increasing the flexibility of chief constables to use back-office
staff for appropriate routine tasks;
• simplifying procedures
for issuing bail and dealing with those who breach it; and
•
reducing time spent dealing with detainees by issuing guidance to
chief constables on making best use of short-term detention
facilities.
Crime and Policing Minister David Hanson MP said:
"The public wants to see officers spending more of
their time on the frontline and we are determined to make this
happen.
"Through these changes to PACE we will
help reduce bureaucracy and ensure the police can carry out their
key duties on the frontline.
"Making better use
of police custody and simplifying bail will add to
bureaucracy-cutting measures and free-up even more officer
time."
The proposed changes add to measures
outlined in the Crime and Security Bill on stop and search to cut
paperwork by reducing the amount of information a police officer
is required to record and so cut the time a search takes.
Notes for Editors
1. PACE and the accompanying Codes of Practice deal
with contact between the police and the public in the exercise of
police powers. They set out the powers to deal with crime and the
investigative and enforcement processes whilst setting down
safeguards and protections for members of the public.
2. The PACE Review was launched in spring 2007, prompting
more than 200 responses and some 700 detailed suggestions for
change and prompting our proposals in August, 2008.
5.
To access the proposed programme of changes and consultation
responses, click on the link on the Home Office website: http://www.police.homeoffice.gov.uk/
Contacts:
Home Office Press Office
Phone: 020 7035 3535
NDS.HO@coi.gsi.gov.uk