Police Reform Act 2002

33 Removal etc. of senior officers at the instance of the Secretary of State

(1) Section 42 of the 1996 Act (role of the Secretary of State as respects removal of chief constables etc.) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For subsections (1) and (2) there shall be substituted—

“(1) The Secretary of State may—

(a) require the Metropolitan Police Authority to exercise its power under section 9E to call upon the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner, in the interests of efficiency or effectiveness, to retire or to resign; or

(b) require a police authority maintaining a police force under section 2 to exercise its power under section 11 to call upon the chief constable of that force, in the interests of efficiency or effectiveness, to retire or to resign.

(1A) The Secretary of State may also, in any case falling within subsection (1B) in which he considers that it is necessary for the maintenance of public confidence in the force in question—

(a) require the Metropolitan Police Authority to suspend the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner from duty; or

(b) require a police authority maintaining a police force under section 2 to suspend the chief constable of that force from duty.

(1B) The cases falling within this subsection are—

(a) where the Secretary of State is proposing to exercise his power under subsection (1) in relation to the Metropolitan Police Authority or, as the case may be, the other police authority in question, or is proposing to consider so exercising that power;

(b) where the Metropolitan Police Authority or the other police authority in question is itself proposing to exercise its power to call upon the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner or, as the case may be, the chief constable of the force in question to retire or to resign, or is proposing to consider so exercising that power; and

(c) where the power mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) has been exercised but the retirement or resignation has not yet taken effect.

(2) Before requiring the exercise by the Metropolitan Police Authority or any other police authority of its power to call upon the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner or the chief constable of the force in question to retire or to resign, the Secretary of State shall—

(a) give the officer concerned a notice in writing—

(i) informing him of the Secretary of State’s intention to require the exercise of that power; and

(ii) explaining the Secretary of State’s grounds for requiring the exercise of that power; and

(b) give that officer an opportunity to make representations to the Secretary of State.

(2A) Where the Secretary of State gives a notice under subsection (2)(a), he shall send a copy of the notice to the Metropolitan Police Authority or other police authority concerned.

(2B) The Secretary of State shall consider any representations made to him under subsection (2).”

(3) In subsection (3) (inquiries), for the words from the beginning to “subsection (1)” there shall be substituted—

“(3) Where the Secretary of State proposes to require the exercise of a power mentioned in subsection (1), he”.

(4) After subsection (3) there shall be inserted—

“(3A) At an inquiry held under subsection (3)—

(a) the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner or, as the case may be, the chief constable in question shall be entitled, in accordance with any regulations under section 42A, to make representations to the inquiry;

(b) the Metropolitan Police Authority or, as the case may be, the police authority concerned shall be entitled, in accordance with any regulations made under section 42A, to make representations to the inquiry.

(3B) The entitlement of the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner or, as the case may be, the chief constable in question to make representations shall include the entitlement to make them in person.”

(5) In subsection (4) (expenses of inquiry), for the words “a chief constable, deputy chief constable or assistant chief constable” there shall be substituted “the Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner or a chief constable”.

(6) After subsection (4) there shall be inserted—

“(4A) If the Secretary of State exercises the power conferred by subsection (1) in relation to the Commissioner or the Deputy Commissioner or a chief constable, the Metropolitan Police Authority or other police authority concerned—

(a) shall not be required to seek the Secretary of State’s approval before calling upon the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner or chief constable in question, in the interests of efficiency or effectiveness, to retire or to resign; and

(b) shall not be required to give the Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner or the chief constable a written explanation of the authority’s grounds for calling upon him to retire or to resign, to give him an opportunity to make representations to it or to consider any representations made by him.

(4B) In this section “the Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and “the Deputy Commissioner” means the Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.

(4C) In this section a reference to the police authority concerned, in relation to a chief constable, is to the police authority which maintains the police force of which he is chief constable.”

(7) Subsection (5) (application to senior officers in the metropolitan police) shall cease to have effect.