The police reform taskforce

David Cameron has made police reform a priority for the Conservative Party.  In July 2007 he made David Ruffley the Shadow Minister for Police Reform with responsibility for the police reform taskforce. This website and the interim report of the Taskforce build on the direction set out in two keynote speeches by David Cameron and sets out proposals for further consultation.

 The interim report of the Taskforce, available to download here, builds on the direction set out in two keynote speeches by David Cameron and sets out proposals for further consultation.

The report is not a statement of Party policy, which will be agreed in due course.  We make no specific spending pledges at this stage.  Instead we make the case that money could be spent much better.  Central to the report is the notion, endorsed by the Treasury, that very substantial resources could be released from reforms to the way the police work.

The Taskforce has no formal membership.  This website and our report are the products of hundreds of discussions and meetings over the course of the last year with police officers of all ranks, including field visits to various forces, as well as all those with an interest and expertise in policing – officials, think tanks, academics, police authorities, and above all the public.  We have also been informed by a large volume of letters and e-mails, especially from serving officers.

We now want to consult widely on these ideas.  We have set up this website so that we can receive views from all concerned – police officers, experts and the public.  Over the course of the next few weeks we will be holding specialist seminars on the key areas identified for reform in the report.  We will be visiting more police forces and talking to as many officers of all ranks as possible.