Guernsey Press

Scrutiny ‘unimpressed by level of disclosure’

SOME members of the Home Affairs committee appear to have a lack of understanding of the critical comments on governance made by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in their report on Bailiwick Law Enforcement, according to Scrutiny Management Committee president Chris Green.

Published
Scrutiny Management Committee president Chris Green, right.

Deputy Green was commenting in the wake of last week’s hearing in which the committee heard from several parties in the wake of HMIC’s report, including Home Affairs committee members.

On the matter of governance, HMIC was critical of Home Affairs for insufficient focus on strategic matters and paying too much attention to minutiae and operational matters.

Deputy Green said the comments made by committee members under questioning before the panel led him to question whether they all fully grasped the rationale behind the critical comments.

‘The panel was left with the impression that certain political members of the committee for Home Affairs had a lack of understanding of the specific governance concerns that apply particularly in matters of law enforcement.’

He also said that the respective responsibilities of politicians and senior staff in Bailiwick Law Enforcement needed to be defined urgently.

Policing protocols similar to those used by forces in the UK ought to be brought in.

‘Although sometimes there can be difficult grey areas between pure operational matters and policy / strategic areas, a decent protocol in place may help to mitigate those risks,’ he said.

‘I believe the creation of an agreed protocol along similar lines to the UK policing protocols should be implemented as a matter of urgency.

‘Separation of powers here needs to be more than just a theory.

‘It must be part of the culture, notwithstanding that appropriate political oversight of operational functions is a key part of democracy and will always be needed.’

As well as weaknesses in governance, the report identified problems with the IT provision: ‘Whilst I drew comfort from the commitments given that recovery action is now being taken, it does seem astonishing that the position could be allowed to get so dire before any effective action has been taken,’ wrote Deputy Green.

‘Clearly, this is an area that will be monitored closely moving forward.’

He repeated his disappointment at the amount of documents and information provided to the panel ahead of the hearing, particularly the heavily redacted minutes of Home meetings and a lack of supporting material relating to the governance issues.

‘A policy letter will be forthcoming next year with a view to giving the committee extra powers to compel parties to produce relevant papers.

More should have been done when Home received the draft report from HMIC in May, Deputy Green wrote, rather than waiting for the final version to come out six months later.

He concluded by urging Home to implement all of HMIC’s recommendations ‘as soon as practicable’ or to set out a timetable for this action soon.

He would like to see Home consider having a follow-up report by HMIC to check on progress and implementation by July next year and for them to look at introducing a statutory requirement for an inspection to be carried out on a regular recurring basis.

‘Standing back from all of the detail, it is clear that the external report by HMIC has been very useful in raising positive and negative points about Bailiwick Law Enforcement,’ he said.

‘The Committee for Home Affairs voluntarily agreed to be inspected.

‘They deserve credit for that.’