Message from the Chief Executive

Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill 2010-11

Following agreement by both Houses on the text of the Bill it received Royal Assent on 15 September. The Bill is now an Act of Parliament (law).

The Bill covers five distinct policy areas: police accountability and governance; alcohol licensing; the regulation of protests around Parliament Square; misuse of drugs; and the issue of arrest warrants in respect of private prosecutions for universal jurisdiction offences.

Key areas

• replaces police authorities with directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners
• amends and supplements the Licensing Act 2003 with the intention of ‘rebalancing’ it in favour of local authorities, the police and local communities
• sets out a new framework for regulating protests around Parliament Square. Relevant sections of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 would be repealed and the police would be given new powers to prevent encampments and the use of amplified noise equipment
• enables the Home Secretary to temporarily ban drugs for up to a year, and removes the statutory requirement for the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to include members with experience in specified activities
• introduces a new requirement for private prosecutors to obtain the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions prior to the issue of an arrest warrant for ‘universal jurisdiction’ offences such as war crimes or torture. The Government's aim in introducing this change is to prevent the courts being used for political purposes.

The elections for the Police and Crime Commissioner will take place on 15th November 2012. The Police Authority is committed continue to work hard so that policing in Warwickshire is in the strongest possible position for the handover to the Police and Crime Commissioner.