The Government must adopt an amendment in law removing the need for investigators to redact case files at the pre-charge stage which is wasting thousands of precious police hours and causing victims to withdraw.
The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) is amplifying its calls for legislative changes to the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (No.2) currently passing through Parliament after Paul Foster MP, Member of Parliament for South Ribble, posed his tabled question to Policing Minister Diane Johnson on Monday 21 October.
He said: “Part three of the Data Protection Act imposes unnecessary obligations on the police which requires them to redact personal data before it is transferred to the CPS.
“These obligations delay and obstruct the swift progress of the criminal justice system. Will ministers please urgently look at reforming this unnecessary red tape to allow more police time on the streets in my constituency.”
In response, Policing Minister Diane Johnson said: “This is a really important point. We are actively exploring all the ways we can improve the guidance around redaction, streamline current processes, make better use of technology and ultimately reduce unnecessary on the police and prosecutors so they can get on with their primary task of keeping the public safe and putting away criminals.”
As part of its #SimplifyDG6 campaign, PFEW has proposed a new, legally approved, clause that if enacted would facilitate the free flow of personal data between the police and the CPS at the pre-charge stage.
On average, since 1 January 2021, 365,000 policing hours have been consumed annually in redacting case files pre-charge. At a PC’s pay point 4, this costs taxpayers £5.64 million per year.
Police Federation National Detectives’ Forum Chair Ben Hudson stated: “First of all I would like to thank Mr Foster for his support on this crucial matter.
“I am deeply concerned about the detrimental impact this bureaucracy is having on victims of crime. Almost half of police officers (45 per cent) who responded to our survey in 2022 indicated the number of victims that have withdrawn from active participation with their investigation has increased due to the incredible amount of time it takes to redact case files at the pre-charge stage.
“We know this is a huge issue especially when it comes to victims of rape and sexual offences which take longer than any other crime on average to result in a charge or court summons.
“We welcome the Government’s new measures set out last month to combat violence against women and girls, but more must be done to reduce delays within the criminal justice system in addition to this.
“I urge the Government to adopt our amendment into the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill to help achieve swifter justice for victims.
“The proposed clause would have no obvious disadvantages. Security of personal data would not be compromised. The redactions, which are needed to protect our personal data would still be undertaken, however this would be done at the appropriate stage.
“Most importantly unnecessary redaction would be avoided, which is everything we have been looking to achieve.
“Adopting this approach enables the Government to demonstrate they are supporting policing and freeing up thousands upon thousands of policing hours nationally for our members to dedicate their services to front line policing.
“For chief constables this would mean their officers are back within their communities rather than being stuck at computers, and our members would be able to do what they joined up for; serve the public, keep them same safe and prevent and detect crime.”
Lancashire Police Federation Chair Zeg Awan said: “The Police Federation, through Ben Hudson, Secretary of Suffolk Police Federation, has been highlighting the issue of redacted disclosure for some time.
“We consider this a huge imposition on our members’ time who would rather be on the streets fighting crime than complying with red tape, which we consider unnecessary and can be complied with by other less time-consuming measures with the support of our partners in the criminal justice system.
“Officers up and down the country will be heartened by the support from Paul Foster MP for South Ribble and grateful to him for bringing this to the attention of Parliament through his question on this matter to the Policing Minister.
“We look forward to working with the Government to make real progress on this matter.”
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