IPCC statement on Home Affairs Select Committee report
1 Feb 2013 04:04 PM
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) welcomes the Home Affairs Select Committee’s recognition that it cannot meet public expectations without increased resources and powers, and endorses many of the recommendations in the recent report.
Many of the recommendations and observations the Committee made address areas that the IPCC has repeatedly highlighted in recent years.
Dame Anne Owers, Chair of the IPCC, said: "This report recognises that we do not yet have the resources or powers to do all that the public rightly expects and needs from us. That is what we have been saying for a long time.
"Without that, we will continue to struggle to meet the legitimate expectations of complainants and of families who have lost someone in tragic circumstances.
"We are a demand-led organisation, and, as the Committee’s report shows, the demand for our services continues to grow.
"The report rehearses many of the points I have already made publicly. We want to be able to carry out more independent investigations.
"We need to exercise rigorous oversight over the way police deal with complaints, and follow up our own recommendations. We have re-focused the role of Commissioners and are in the middle of a recruitment campaign to attract a diverse range of investigators to complement our existing staff – who have shown that they can and do hold police officers to account, but who are working under increasing levels of pressure.
"But all of this needs resources and powers. That is what we have been promised for the Hillsborough investigation, which will allow us to show what we can do and how we can do it. We want that to be a model of how we go forward."
For further information contact the IPCC press office on 0161 246 8633.