Asked by Lord Hogan-Howe To ask Her Majesty’s Government what
was the outcome of the review of police officers’ use of firearms
announced in November 2015 after the terrorist attacks in France.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of Trafford)
(Con) My Lords, armed police officers do a vital and uniquely
challenging job on behalf...Request free
trial
Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the outcome of the
review of police officers’ use of firearms announced in
November 2015 after the terrorist attacks in France.
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The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of
Trafford) (Con)
My Lords, armed police officers do a vital and uniquely
challenging job on behalf of the public. It is right that
they are supported to take difficult decisions to protect
the public without fearing that the justified use of force
will damage their careers. The work looking into the legal
and procedural framework governing police use of firearms
and post-incident investigation is ongoing, taking into
account learning from recent events.
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(CB)
My Lords, in this country there are 120,000 police
officers, only 6,500 of whom are armed. They deal with
15,700 firearms operations a year, yet discharge their
weapons on only 10 occasions. Yet when they do discharge
their weapons they can expect a lengthy and prolonged
inquiry—more than 10 years on the worst occasion. Something
needs to happen about this. That was agreed in the review
that this Question relates to by the then Prime Minister,
Mr . Here we are two and
half years later and that review has yet to conclude. The
Government and the law need to change to accommodate the
needs of the firearms officer to ensure these things are
carried forward well in the future. The very least that
should happen is that the review should conclude.
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I thank the noble Lord for his Question—his first to me, I
think. I thank him for the time he took to speak to me this
morning and join him in paying tribute to all those who
serve in our police services in some very difficult
circumstances indeed. On his first point on the previous
Prime Minister commissioning the review, officials have
been looking at the legal and procedural framework of
post-incident procedure in consultation with stakeholders,
including the noble Lord. His second point was about armed
police officers feeling like they are treated as suspects.
As I am sure that he would agree, it is quite clear that
the facts should be established and no predetermination
made during the process. The police and the IOPC have
agreed a protocol for post-incident procedures following a
terrorist attack to improve clarity and address concerns
about safety and fairness. On the noble Lord’s third point
on timeliness from the point of view of the firearms
officer, and that of the family of someone who might have
been shot, he is absolutely right. There have been precious
few convictions—in fact none—since 2004, but timeliness is
improving.
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(Lab)
My Lords, I refer to my interests to do with policing in
the register. Can the Minister confirm that it is proving
difficult to recruit up to the required level of firearms
officers at present? Can she tell us the reason? Is it
because there is now too small a pool of police officers to
recruit from? Is it because police officers who accept this
responsibility are not paid any extra? Is it because they
are worried about the extremely long processes that might
follow if they ever have to use their weapon? Which is it?
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The noble Lord rightly raises a number of concerns. We know
there have been challenges in recruiting additional
firearms officers. To date, we have recruited 650 and hope
to reach 1,000 by the end of this year. Developing a
pipeline of skills is very important when we are looking to
recruit. In doing so, we want firearms officers to feel
that they can do their job with the safety of a legal
framework around them.
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(LD)
My Lords, police firearms officers are volunteers who make
split-second decisions to protect us all. Does the Minister
not agree that they deserve some legal protection in
return?
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I think the final part of my answer to the noble Lord,
, made precisely
that point. We absolutely acknowledge the way the police
have to make—in the blink of an eye—what are sometimes
life-and-death decisions. They had a particularly
challenging time last year during the several terrorist
attacks that took place in this city and in Manchester. I
think the noble Lord, Lord Harris, acknowledged in his
report how well the police responded in those situations.
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(Con)
My Lords, in view of the increasing number of firearms
officers required, is my noble friend the Minister
satisfied that the training arrangements for them are
adequate?
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My noble friend is absolutely right: the training is crucial.
These officers are experts in their field, who have to make
split-second decisions in not just challenging but
life-threatening situations, with a lot of people being
affected should decisions go wrong. Training is absolutely
crucial.
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(CB)
My Lords, the Minister said that the timeliness of
investigations into firearms incidents is improving, but my
understanding is that it is not. Will she take this matter
back and perhaps leave a report in the Library about what the
Government are doing to improve that timeliness?
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I am certainly happy to give the noble Baroness a longer
answer in writing. I will just run through some of the things
we have done in recent years. The timeliness of
investigations has gone down from 205 working days in the
year to April 2017 to 186 working days in the year to April
2018. The IOPC has increased the number of investigations
nearly sixfold since 2013-14. In addition, we have doubled
the IOPC budget.
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(Lab
Co-op)
My Lords, the noble Lord, , has raised a very
important issue but can the noble Baroness tell us when she
expects the review to conclude? As he said, it has been going
now for nearly two and a half years.
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We expect that Michael Lockwood will complete his review
soon. He is quite new in post and is looking at the Section
22 draft statutory guidance on achieving best evidence in
death and serious injury matters, while taking into account
the College of Policing’s authorised professional practice
for armed policing post-incident procedures.
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(GP)
My Lords, the point has been raised that the timeliness of
these investigations is quite poor. That does not give
justice to the families of the people who have been shot, nor
to the officers who have done the shooting, so are there
plans for the Government to review the processes so that they
can be run concurrently rather than sequentially?
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The timeliness is improving. A number of changes made to the
IOPC have resulted in better performance from it, including
in the time it takes to investigate.
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