Other
Section 108 Strategies for crime reduction etc probation authorities
578.Section 108 provides for every provider of probation services in a particular area, whose arrangements under section 3 of the Offender Management Act 2007 provide for it to be a responsible authority, to be added to the list of “responsible authorities” which comprise the CDRP (Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in England) or CSP (Community Safety Partnership in Wales) in that area. It also extends the remit of CDRPs/CSPs to explicitly include the reduction of re-offending.
579.Subsection (2) adds every provider of probation services in a local government area, whose arrangements under section 3 of the Offender Management Act 2007 provide for it to be a responsible authority, to the list of responsible authorities for that area. The responsible authorities must work together and with other local agencies and organisations to formulate and implement crime and disorder strategies and strategies for combating the misuse of drugs, alcohol and other substances in the area. Prior to this, local probation boards were not responsible authorities but were required to co-operate with those persons and bodies who were. The Offender Management Act 2007 gives the Secretary of State power to make arrangements with providers of probation services from the public (probation trusts), private or third sector or to provide the services himself. Those arrangements will state whether the provider will be a responsible authority or whether they will remain a co-operating body.
580.Subsection (3) amends section 5(1B)(b) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which limits the Secretary of State’s power to merge by order two or more partnership areas in England to cases where he considers it would be in the interests of reducing crime and disorder or substance misuse. This subsection extends these criteria to include reducing re-offending.
581.Subsection (4) extends the existing duties of responsible authorities to include a requirement to formulate and implement a strategy to reduce re-offending in the area.
582.Subsection (5) provides that the appropriate national authority for making regulations relating to strategies for reducing re-offending is the Secretary of State and the Welsh Ministers acting jointly.
583.Subsection (6) amends section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Section 17 places a duty on certain defined authorities, such as local authorities, to exercise their functions with due regard to the likely effect on, and the need to do all that it reasonably can to prevent, crime and disorder and substance misuse. This subsection expands this duty to include reducing re-offending.
Section 109 Application of aspects of UK law to SOCA employees working abroad
584.Section 109(a) inserts into paragraph 20 of Schedule 1 to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 new exceptions to the Serious Organised Crime Agency’s status as a non-Crown body so that SOCA employees, in certain circumstances, will be deemed to be carrying out the work of the Crown.
585.Section 109(b) sets out the three exceptions to the general rule that SOCA employees are not servants of the Crown by inserting three new sub-paragraphs into paragraph 20 of Schedule 1 to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. These are:
Sub-paragraph (2) SOCA employees who are working outside the United Kingdom will be treated as Crown servants for the purposes of section 31(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1948 and will therefore be subject to prosecution and punishment for any indictable offence carried out whilst on duty abroad.
Sub-paragraph (3) SOCA employees who are working outside the United Kingdom will be treated as Crown servants for the purposes of sections 26 to 28 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 and will consequently be liable to pay UK tax on their earnings.
Sub-paragraph (4) SOCA employees who are working outside the United Kingdom will be deemed servants of the Crown for the purposes of section 299 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 and will therefore be entitled to the tax free allowances of a Crown servant intended to facilitate their operating in a foreign jurisdiction.
Section 110 Partial exemption for SCDEA from Firearms Act 1968
586.Section 110 amends section 54 of the Firearms Act 1968 to bring members of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) within the meaning of “persons in the service of Her Majesty” in that section. Certain provisions of the Firearms Act therefore apply to a member of the SCDEA (subject to modifications) in the same way as they apply to a member of a police force and a member of staff of the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
Section 111 Removal of limitation of warrants under Misuse of Drugs Act 1971
587.Section 111 removes the requirement for a constable, who wishes to obtain a warrant under section 23(3) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 to enter and search premises, to be acting for the police area within which the premises are situated. This confirms that those police officers working for the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency and the Serious Organised Crime Agency can rely on these powers.
