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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria must be
satisfied for them to establish an independent inquiry into a
police investigation.
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The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of
Trafford) (Con)
My Lords, it is not possible to identify a definitive set of
criteria to determine when the Government should establish an
inquiry. Inquiries result from a huge variety of events, and
each decision has to be taken on its merits.
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(Con)
Is my noble friend aware that the demand for an independent
inquiry into the police investigation into Sir Edward Heath
is not going to go away? Does she agree that the best thing
would of course be for the Wiltshire police and crime
commissioner to set up his own independent inquiry? This
Tuesday, yet again, he refused point blank to do so. Is not
the only option now for the Home Office to set up such an
inquiry?
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As I said the other day, an inquiry of any form should be
considered only where other available investigatory
mechanisms would not be sufficient. I absolutely concur with
this demand, which is repeatedly made from your Lordships’
House. My noble friend is correct that the Wiltshire PCC has
it in his power to initiate such an inquiry.
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(Non-Afl)
My Lords, does the new independent office of police
misconduct have a role in this type of inquiry? It can of
course initiate its own inquiries.
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I should clarify that it is the Independent Office for Police
Conduct rather than misconduct, as the noble Lord knows. The
IOPC can investigate a matter referred to it, but it also has
call-in powers to require referral. In terms of investigating
a police force, the IOPC is independent of government and the
Home Secretary does not have the power to direct it to
investigate a force or any of its officers. The key functions
of the IOPC include providing independent oversight of the
police complaints and discipline system, considering appeals
when people believe that a police investigation into a
complaint has got it wrong, and carrying out its own
investigations into the most serious and sensitive matters
relating to police conduct.
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(LD)
My Lords, I understand the concern of noble Lords about the
reputation of the right honourable Sir Edward Heath, but what
about Bishop Bell, or Sir Cliff Richard?
It pains me to say this, but the police and the media cannot
be trusted to comply with their own regulations on this
issue. Will the Minister meet me to explore how my upcoming
Private Member’s Bill to legally preserve anonymity before
charge might be supported by the Government?
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I am always happy to meet the noble Lord; we meet regularly.
I understand all the cases that he talks about, which have
gone through various mechanisms of investigation, and am
happy to meet him to talk about his Private Member’s Bill.
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(CB)
My Lords, is it not the case that the examples which the
noble Lord has just made strengthen the case for an inquiry
by the Government? Can the Minister tell us whether the
Government are legally debarred from setting up such an
investigation, or whether they have such powers but have so
far chosen not to use them in this case?
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The Government are not debarred from setting up an inquiry,
and there are mechanisms to do so under the Inquiries Act.
But as I said to my noble friend, an inquiry of any form
should be considered only when other available investigatory
mechanisms would not be sufficient. As I explained to him,
there are other available mechanisms.
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(Con)
My Lords, as my noble friend has just admitted, there is
nothing to prevent the Government acting. As the Home Office
could do with some good publicity at the moment, could we not
have a High Court judge or retired judge appointed to look
into the implications of the Edward Heath case, the Brittan
case and the Bishop Bell case, because there is profound
public unease about all these things?
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As I stated, the PCC is completely within his powers to
initiate such an inquiry.
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(Lab)
My Lords, further to the correspondence that I drew to the
Minister’s attention the other day, we now have access to 10
FoI responses by Macpherson to people in the Wiltshire area.
Perhaps I may read one of them:
“Should the Inquiry prove unable or unwilling to take this
task on”—
and it has said that it is not willing to take it on—
“I will reiterate my earlier call for the government to
establish a judge-led review of the evidence”.
He makes it quite clear there what his position is. That was
on 10 October last year, only five days after the publication
of the Conifer report. Why do Ministers not bring this man
into the department, have a word with him and tell him to get
on with the job he was given when he was appointed as the
police commissioner for Wiltshire?
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I shall certainly take that suggestion forward, to stop
myself getting beaten over the head every day over this
matter. But more seriously, the noble Lord has very kindly
brought to my attention the correspondence received and I
have written to the PCC. I have also written to noble Lords,
as I said the other day, to make the position quite clear:
that he can initiate such an inquiry.
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(Con)
My Lords, I am a Salisbury boy and proud to be the descendant
of four generations of policemen. May I let my noble friend
into a little secret? I did not have much time for Ted,
either personally or politically, but this is not natural
justice. Will she not accept that, if we cannot get to grips
with these serial cases of misrepresentation and allegations,
it will serve only to undermine genuine attempts to deal with
the really serious cases that must be dealt with?
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I totally appreciate my noble friend’s point, but when he
talks about this not being natural justice, Ted Heath has not
been convicted of anything. Of course he has not; he is
deceased. But there is a mechanism to go forward, if an
inquiry wishes to take this forward, through the PCC and he
is within his powers to do so.
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(CB)
My Lords, the Minister said that the Government will not
mount an inquiry while there were other ways of doing so. The
police and crime commissioner has, regrettably, refused to do
so. What other ways are available at present?
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There is the mechanism that the PCC is elected, and the
people will take a view on how he performs his role when it
comes to his future election.
