STOP AND SEARCH PROCEDURES

That this House recognises that stop and search powers are essential to the police in their fight to combat crime; reaffirms its support for recommendations 60 through to 63 of the Home Secretary's Action Plan published in March 1999; notes that these recommendations had the support of the official Opposition; recalls that the Action Plan was published in response to the recommendations of the Macpherson Inquiry into the events surrounding the murder of Stephen Lawrence; further notes that Lord Macpherson made his recommendations having listened to concerns from members of the public about the lack of accountability of police officers over their use of stop and search powers; further notes that Lord Macpherson concluded that mistrust of the police in relation to stop and search was having a negative effect on race relations in many communities; further recalls that the Action Plan retained stop and search powers for the police, but required a record to be kept on all occasions, required police services and police authorities to use these records to monitor their use and to publish the figures and further required that members of the public who are stopped be made aware that they have a right to be given a record in all circumstances; and calls on the Government to ensure that any changes to the stop and search procedures do not reduce the accountability of the police or the confidence of any of our communities over how these powers are used.