Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Acknowledged
Inadequate contempt of court laws and CPS guidance fail social media era communication needs.
Conclusion
Merseyside Police were put in a very difficult position given legal restrictions on communicating the identity of the Southport suspect and the need to withhold certain information in order to protect the trial. The inconsistent advice from the CPS over the publication of information about the suspect’s religion was particularly regrettable and hampered the police response. It cannot be determined whether the disorder could have been prevented had more information been published. However, the lack of information published in the wake of the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar created a vacuum where misinformation was able to grow, further undermining public confidence. We respect the CPS’s commitment to minimising risks to successful prosecutions, but it is clear that neither the law on contempt nor existing CPS guidance for the media and police are fit for the social media age. We therefore welcome both the Law Commission’s supplementary consultation on contempt of court and the CPS’s review of media guidelines. (Conclusion, Paragraph 17)
Government Response Summary
The government states it is carefully considering recommendations from both the Inspectorate and the Committee, committing to publish a Police Reform White Paper that will outline its intentions to address findings, strengthen public order policing, and enhance the response to violent disorder.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
It is important that we learn the lessons from the most significant public disorder in more than a decade. The Government and police are now carefully considering the recommendations made by the Inspectorate as well as the recommendations made in the Committee’s own report. The Government’s Police Reform White Paper will set out how it intends to address the findings from the Inspectorate and the Committee, and the wider system reform needed in policing. This White Paper reflects the Government’s commitment to learning the lessons of the disorder, and will include proposals to strengthen Public Order Policing and enhance the longer-term cross-system response to violent disorder. PCCs must also, as the elected voice of the people, hold their Chief Constable to account for individual forces’ implementation of the recommendations in HMICFRS’ inspection report. Each PCC must also respond to HMICFRS’ report within 56 days of its publication.