Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: grace and favour homes, police force amalgamation, Sarah’s law, and whaling.
Grace and favour
Asked about the disposal of ministers’ grace and favour homes, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that the process of consideration continued. Put to him there was a Home Office house which was sitting empty and given that there were new powers for local authorities to seize homes empty for 6 months or more, the PMOS said that he would draw this to the attention of the relevant authorities and pass on the journalist’s concern about this matter. Asked if this didn’t send out the wrong signal, the PMOS said that these were matters which would be sorted out at the appropriate time.
Police force amalgamation
Put to him that the Home Secretary had kicked the proposed regional police mergers into the ‘long grass’ despite the Prime Minister saying that they should be sorted out as quickly as possible, the PMOS said that we should be clear about this. First of all this was an issue of effectiveness. It had been Her Majesty’s inspectorate who spoke first and foremost about the need to rationalise the police services and achieve maximum effectiveness. Equally we needed to make sure that the police remained accountable at a local level. So there was a balance that needed to be struck. The Home Secretary would take this forward in his own way.
Asked if proceeding with mergers would endanger accountability, the PMOS said no. You had to carry out a consultation process, which we had. You had to listen to the consultation process and think about it, particularly if you were a new Home Secretary. That was what he was doing which was perfectly sensible.
Sarah’s law
Asked if he could give further details concerning information that might be released under the proposed Sarah’s law, based on the USA’s Megan’s law, the PMOS said no because we were starting the process of learning what lessons could be learned from the USA. It was important that that should take place. That was what the Home Secretary had said Gerry Sutcliffe would do. Asked for clarification of what the Home Secretary had meant, the PMOS said that on the one hand you had to try and give the public useful information whilst at the same time balance the need for individual security. You had to try and work your way through that. In the USA there was a body of experience which was well worth looking at and Gerry Sutcliffe would do that. In the meantime the Home Secretary had moved on the issue of convicted paedophiles being in accommodation near schools. Asked what exactly was changing from measures taken by this Government in the past, the PMOS said that given that there remained a continued community concern on this issue, as anyone who was in touch with the local community could tell you, then it was sensible to look at the lessons to be learned from the United States. Asked if there might be the possibility of lists of names of paedophiles in the public domain, the PMOS said that he was not prejudging anything. People should recognise that the Home Secretary had taken action on the specific issue of paedophiles in probation centres near schools, which was a matter of concern for many people. As the Home Secretary had said, his presumption was that the public should have more information than it had had so far.
Whaling
Asked if the Prime Minister was going to take an action in response to the recent change in policy by the International Whaling Commission, the PMOS said that we had a very capable fisheries minister who spoke for the Government on this issue.
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