The Police Federations of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland  strongly deplore the amendment which Lord Blencathra has proposed at the Committee Stage of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill.  His proposal includes the repeal of sections 1, 2 and 5 of the Police (Health and Safety) Act 1997, which would remove the protection afforded by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 from police officers. If this was enacted this would potentially prevent members of the public being able to make a claim for any injuries or actions taken by the Police.

In addition every single police officer will be denied the protections afforded to every other Police Officer and worker in Europe.

This is particularly ironic, since he was, as David Maclean, Minister of State at the Home Office in 1997 when the legislation in question was enacted by his Department in order to achieve compliance with EU health and safety legislation.

All the major police representative bodies: ACPO, the Superintendents' Association and the Police Federation are agreed in their opinion that the Police (Health and Safety) Act has resulted in significant improvements in the health, safety and welfare of front line police officers, while allowing efficient and effective policing to be achieved.

In gathering evidence on behalf of the Conservative Party and the Government  last year for his report Common Sense, Common Safety, Lord Young interviewed senior members of the Police Federation and, despite his previously-stated concerns about health and safety legislation and policing, he did not raise such concerns in the final report.  Instead, he supported the practical approach embodied in the high level statement Striking the balance between operational and health and safety duties in the Police service which had been drawn up by the Health and Safety Executive working with ACPO and the police authorities and other key stakeholders.

Then, in March this year, the Department for Work and Pensions published Good Health and Safety, Good for Everyone which set out the next steps in the Government's plans for the reform of Britain's health and safety system.  Among those proposals was a review of health and safety regulation - the Lofstedt review - supported by an independent advisory panel and reporting by autumn 2011.  However, the review does not intend to focus on the Health and Safety at Work etc Act or the other Acts enforced by HSE, such as the Police (Health and Safety) Act 1997.  In that case, why does the Government take a different view, seeking to repeal the 1997 Act by means of the Lords' amendment?

As a final point, I think it would be helpful to remind you of the judgement in the European Court of Justice case C132/4 Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Spain (2006).  The Court stated that the armed forces and the police fall within the scope of the EU Framework Directive.  It is our view that, if, as proposed by Lord Blencathra, the substantive sections of the Police (Health and Safety) Act are repealed, then the UK will no longer be in compliance with the Framework Directive and will be open to similar action by the European Commission.