The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 6

6 THE GUARDIAN Friday March 29 1974 HOME NEWS Police discipline row as inquiry falls down on key issue By ALAN SMITH An official working group has failed to agree on a way of introducing an independent element into the procedure for handling complaints against the police. The report of the working group set up in April last year by the former Home Secretary, Mr Carr said it would be for the Home Secretary to decide what new arrangements to intro- Hupp in thp lipht of five -H the safeguards appropriate was that some people were not ririnlP5 Ton which to a criminal case, with police too happy with it. He also basic principles on wnicn officers being treated neither regretted that the working the group was agreed. more nor less favourably than group comprising seven Home "We suggest that it need other citizens." This system Office and DPP representa-occasion no surprise and should deserved greater recognition, tives. and seven police repre.

not cause undue concern that the group said, and there sentatives and four members there should remain some should be no question of with local authority connections genuine differences of opinion." weakening or fettering it. had not invited outside evi-Some useful progress had been 3 The Chief Officers responsi- dence and had not taken up the made. hiiitv fnr the riiscioline of his NCCL's offer to discuss its pro- Return of union fine urged By Peter Helherington Mr Michael Foot, the Secretary for Employment, is under increasing pressure to authorise the repayment of 100,000 from the National Industrial Relations Court to Hebburn urban council, County Durham. The money, loaned to the council by the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers, was seized last October to pay a fine imposed on the union. This week Mr Foot received a strongly-worded letter from the council, which becomes part of the new South Tynesiide Ditstrict Council on Monday, asking for the money to be returned.

The 22 Labour MPs sponsored by the engineering union have asked for a meeting with Mr Foot to make a similar plea. In the letter, Hebbunn council urged Mr Foot to "give special consideration to the nosition of Hebburn and the The changing face of camping models carry a boat into the Waldorf Astoria. f0rce should not be under- posals for independent Outside bodies which sub- mitted proposals to the group vi-prp nnnk tn comment bitterly on the lack of a recommenda- dent person or body was intro- Mr Ronald Briggs, legal secretion, and the absence of any duced into the complaints pro- Jary of Justice the British sec-firm statement of principle on cedure, "that person or body Hon of the International Com-the need for an independent cannot be made responsible for mission of Jurists (which asked element even though this was such decisions without under- Jor an. independent investigator implicit in the group's terms mining the Chief Officer's dis- to rev'ew Pllce investigations), of reference and in Mr Carr's ciplinary control and opera- l6po? ac tyP1-ctptomontc wo wnniH cal case of the Civil Service mined. Tn i.Tiatovpi- fnrm an indeDen- regard anv such development mimical to effective policing and contrary to the public Truth 'must prevail over convicted men's past By MICHAEL ZANDER, Legal Correspondent Truth should at all times press all references to convic- The proposals in the bill remain a defence to an action tions after the lapse of the would greatly extend and corner, specified time even if the plicate the law of defamation, for iibel, according to the rvelation were andf in In the committee's view actions Faults Committee on Defama- circumstances, in the public for defamation should be The principles on which the group was agreed were 1 The investigation of com- wholly excluded from the bill Since, however, the commi tion.

In a special interim rnnrt. the committee criticises the recent bill to enable con- victed I men to live down their convictions anH not tn have them referred to after some years of good conduct. Km -c by Lord GardTner in thLords: is likely to be reintroduced in the present session of Parliament. Although it says it has great sympathy for 'the general objec- PVw.muf (I officials had fallen down on the the police. placed in jeopardy twice in tn nrnHn.p a As a basic principle says the Aspect of the same complaint, gne isn impressed group, police officers alleged to Decisions on complaints, once said "This will com? as a have committed criminal taken, should not be recon- "Ir seVere disaDointmlnt to offences should be subject to sidered except possibly when ifPiaere andPorgantions the same procedures as other there was new evidence.

concerned with police affairs." citizens that is, a police inves- 5 The r61e of the police justice would like to see the tigation. And. in practice, the authority in supervising the task handed over to a more necessary skill and expertise handling of complaints should broadly based committee, for investigations is only to be not be diminished. Mr Mark Bonham Carter, found within the police force. Mr Martin Loney, general sec- chairman of the Commumtv 2 There should be no inter- retarv of the National Council Relations Commission (which ference with the role of the for Civil Liberties, said yester- proposed a Police Ombudsman Director of Public Prosecu- day that not one of the five to review the method of inves-tions in deciding whether principles stated the need for tigation and present a non-police officers should be an independent element to make binding opinion) said the CRC prosecuted.

the comnlaints procedure effec- stood by its proposals and that The group points out that tive. The way in which the any system without an indepen-complaints involving criminal Constable and the role of the dent element was totally unsat-offences are referred to the DPP is interpreted effectively isfactory. DPP "who is in a position to excludes any independent con- The Home Secretary. Mr ensure that the investigation trol." Jenkins, told the Commons yes-has been thorough and that the The working group seemed to terday that time would be matter is considered and assume that the only thing needed "to study tho issues decided with all the care and wrong with the present system raised. interest.

mi. Nf iforamtion about a person whose conduct had t.j nstanee where he had been Hpast indisreUons however' much 'theyhad Why a person who has been convicted should be better protected. Publishers, booksellers, and librarians would face impos- tioning what was his moral and probably his legal duty that the person in question had a criminal past. uvea iri tuc urn, me uimmiwc siuie problems in cneuung cne the judge on notice to the says it disfavours the creation books they sold or distributed, rehabilitated person in other of special class of person person giving a reference legal proceedings 3. in refer-about Whom the truth Cannot nrnulH Vio inhiKitol frnm men.

OT1PPS 4 in ennsilltatinns with Subsidies for air for ex-detective? By our own Reporter transfer was possible under the Superannuation perjury of policemen who have Provisions) Act, 1948. services urg safely be told after a specific Perlou- Historians, biographers, and journalists would have to sup- Pension Efforts are being made to restore the full pension rights of fnrmr MannWor Hotp tive, Mr Jack Williams, who will be released from prison loaay aiier serving is munins of a two-year sentence for per- jury. In a last act of clemency, before it disappears under locai government reorganisation, the old city council called on Wed- nesdav for an investigation into Roughing it at the Waldorf By DENNIS BARKER SITTING at a camping table outside a tent and being served bacon and eggs for breakfast by a girl wearing a see-through bra, shorts, and a crucifix is certainly one way of being cured of the knobbly knees image of camping. It happened yesterday and it happened without snakes, without bugs, without sand in the eggs, and, since the roof of the Waldorf Hotel does not leak, without rain. The Waldorf Hotel Yes, the Camping Trade Association of Great Britain chose to set up tents, cooking stoves, and wine-coolers under the chandeliers of the Adelphi Suite in Aldwych to illustrate the changing and often luxurious face of camping.

It must be said that though at first the lighting was by camping light and the plastic plates bore strange-looking brands, both these primitive manifestations were later eliminated, presumably to make the point that camping is not the masochism of the working classes. Forty per cent of campers are now in the A and socioeconomic group," said Mr George Cubitt, general secretary of the Camping Club. "Only 10 per cent are D-E class." Bedroom It figures. There are sunflower-coloured tents with green roofs and ornamental frieze with a plastic bedroom for two, orange pseudo-igloos, tents with double roofs in different colours, and, most camp of all, a trailer tent which folds up when not in use but which, opened up, is like a caravan with a bed big enough for four. A great favourite, presumably, with wife-swappers of Weybridge.

Mr John Jackson, of the Camping Trade Association, said that Stratford Johns, Cliff Richard, Pierre Trudeau, and Jimmy Savile were all campers, and that he himself went camping every weekend between Easter and September. We go with a wide range of families. There are three builders, a taxi driver, three railwaymen, two men from the gas board, and some manual workers," he said. We ourselves always take our chemical toilet and enjoy a glass of wine." Mr Jackson's clajm that the knobbly kneed crank" image is dead obviously has substance, but the athletic can still enjoy themselves. An American firm are producing a two-berth tent which fastens on to the roof of the car and is opened up in situ for campers to climb up into it.

We have even had one man of 73 who has ordered one." said Mr Robert Kihl-strom, of the makers. I think he used to be in the air force." By JOHN Ddict subsidies through the Secretary of State for Scotland for air service, and airfields the Highlands and Islands were recommended in a report pub- lished yesterdav by the Civil Aviation Authority. Large hotel will be prosecuted The largest hotel in Blackpool, the Norbreck Castle, is to be prosecuted under the food hygiene regulations. The case will be heard by Blackpool magistrates on a day to be fixed. The decision to prosecute was taken by the local health committee after an inspection last year.

A spokesman at the public health department said yestday: "The facts of our inspectors' report were put to the health committee and it was decided that legal proceedings should be instituted." This week the hotel management cut the bill for 440 delegates of the Royal College of Nursing Congress after complaints about conditions and service. mm Lord Bovd Carpenter, chair- reP" suggests tnai 11 me pnn-man of the CAA: said yester- c'Plet d'rAe is dav in Edinburgh that at pre- adopted the CAA should set up town's ratepayers. The council says that the union loan, which came from the union's political fund, was authorised at a favourable rate of interest and it is now having to pay about 5 per cent more for another loan. Mr John Evans, leader of He.bburn council and now AUEW-sponsored MP for Newton-le-Willows, said he wanted the money returned so that the council could benefit from the more favourable interest rate which the union originally sanctioned. It is estimated that the council could lose 12.000 because of higher interest rates.

Other members of the council regard the Industrial Relations Court's action in seizing the loan as politically orientated, particularly as the monev caime from a political fund which is used to sponsor candidates at election time. They believe they are morally entitled to get the money back. The eventual fine of the AUEW, imposed because of union action in the lengthy dispute to gain recognition at the Con-Mech engineering works. amounted to only 75,000. There is stilU 25,000 unaccounted for.

The Department of Employment could not explain why 100.000 had been confiscated, and Mr Evans said he presumed it would go towards the 47,000 compensation which the union was ordered to. pay Con-Mech yesterday. It also seems unlikely that the Act which will replace the Industrial Relations Act wiill have any retrospective provisions, so the 187,500 seized from unions, in the form of fines, compensation, and costs, since the act became law, will not be repaid. This money has been passed to the Consolidated Fund. Attack on house purchase By our Regional Affairs Correspondent Manchester Corporation is quite stupid to want to buy back a former council house sold to a sitting tenant for 1,920 and now on the market at Councillor Arnold Fieldhouse, former Conservative leader of the city council, said yesterday.

He added If they want to buy houses they must have a need lor them ana 1 aon thinK Manchester has a need." The council should be concentrating on improving older housing areas. Councillor Fieldhouse, now leader of the Conservative group on the Greater Manchester Metropolitan Council, was a member of the housing committee and leader of the council when the policy of selling council houses was introduced. He said that he was not at all disturbed by the case of Mrs Amy Baumber, whose former council house in Green-park Road, Northenden, is now on the market. "sn piani ms i-umuiwiwi accountants and management possibility of acquiring tne i sent the operation of airports the area shows a loss icSiicieu n. of about 1.5 millions a Scotland to operate the High-vear, and the services operated 'and and Island airports.

possible ways of helping Mr a drink-driving charge after he employing police authority Williams. When he was sent to had denied the charge. the police committee of the prison he had served 22 years Yesterday a spokesman for Greater Manchester Council, in the police and had only the federation said that it from next month has power to another three years to qualify believed Mr Williams could get restore his full pension rights, a for a pension worth up to 20 Dack his pension rights either view shared by the Police a week. by being reinstated as a police Federation. The NCCL, The council, and its successor officer for which there was a suspects that the former de-authority, will be morally precedent or being trans- tective has been treated more supported by the Police Federa- ferred along with the value of severely and unfairly than an tion.

which is worried about his pension to another job in ordinary member of the pub-possible future prosecutions ifor local government. Such a lie. by Scottish Airways and it recommends that the iS66 than tish Office should determine the 600,000. The deficits are future nattern of air spi-vipps tee was-in sympathy with the JPI'J "sXerm' bers had tried to find an altern- atlve and acceptable way of achieving the same end Some memioers 01 tne committee save for six exceptional cases 1. In defamation actions adoption proceedings, or legal proceedings concerned with the welfare of children or animals; 2.

with the leave of a doctor 5. in bona fide bio- gxapmes ana historical worxs and 6. where it was in the public interest. Mr Rnhert Crawford a Cnn- sertive cVty councillor and leader of an all-party attempt f0 help Mr Williams, said there were several possible things that could be done, of which transfer to job in local government was extremely promising, Tne National Council for civil T.ihertips hMi pup? that the most of which is taken up by -crx rsxii- the RThe talhatmn jesses 10 Mirrnr urmtln nrrvha nl TSkP at roounais to receive all com' plaints. nriYa'' thaJrhe accent the orinciDle a element but KERR Lord Boyd Carpenter said "I accept that there will have IcSM 'pESWe Highlands, but these should be open and the Scottish Office should be able to know what it is getting for its money." The a suDsiaiary company witn a and that nnoratwt fm- snh- sidised routes should be chosen on the basis of competitive tenders.

On most routes this process could take place over the next three to five years, but there was need for immediate action on the services between Glasgow, Campbeltown, Islay, and Tiree which shoujld be put out to competitive tender now. Cash threat to water schemes By our Regional Affairs Correspondent Urgent water supply and sewerage schemes estimated to cost nearly 70 millions will be held back by a shortage of funds, the new North-West Water Authority said yesterday. After the public expenditure cuts, the authority expects to have no more than 5 millions of capital available. About a quarter of the schemes are for water supply and the rest are sewers and sewage disposal works. A spokesman for the authority yesterday estimated the value of schemes inherited by the authority from its predecessors at about 75 millions.

These were with the local authorities and water- undertakings in an area from the Scottish Border to Northern Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Derbyshire. The schemes were being studied urgently so that priorities could be selected. Guardian Extra, page 20 Radio cuts are denied The Foreign Office yesterday denied reports that cuts of 10 per cent were planned in the budget of the BBC's external services. But it did not categorically deny that the review of public expenditure might affect these services eventually. oeen found guilty OI an Ottence whlie off duty.

Mr Williams is believed to be the first police omuer in oiuiuii 10 ue ueaieu in this way. He lost his pension rights automatically wiien he was dis- missed from the police after being sent to prison for per- jury. This followed his convic- tion at a North Wales court on Emphasising that the drive wonorpreludlcVtheellord and its sister paper, the Sunday ti Extra year at school 'a success' By JOHN FAIRHALL, Education Correspondent The iflrst vear of the raising tive Government and the Labour the loose ends to be tied up by of the school leaving age to 16 Opposition, and of all the major the establishment of a single educational organisations, most national school-leaving date, had been on balance a great recent CMnmm has been preferably June 1. This would success, Mr Alan Barnes, directed to the problems raised get rid of the nonsense of president of the Headmasters' by the move rather than its Easter leaving, just before Association, claimed at the achievements. the examinations which, desir- association's conference in th- h.9j ably or not, marked the climax Oxford yesterday.

comprehensive 1 at of the ve-year secondary "It urgently needs to be said am tshers that in many schools the mass satisfied that the 16-year-old most teaeners- of new fifth year pupils are if leavers of 1974 will have been He acknowledged the part anything less disaffected m0re adequately educated than piaved by the former Secretary ha ve fo0fUten 'SWpSt" TAilXl il TiZ MrS One important reason was tant advantage to place along- raismS the leaving age. In the that teachers had responded side the fact that it is no longer prevailing climate of opinion it splendidly to the challenge of possible for pupils capable of would not have been difficult devising stimulating courses for reaching academic standards for her to draw back from the a new situation. Another was suitable to skilled occupations brink to drop a plan inevitably that many schools had found to leave school prematurely, unpopular with the pupils and the CSE examination useful as either because of their own parents most immediately con- a target for most of the pupils, lack of determination or cerned, and either use the Although the higher leaving through parental ignorance or money saved elsewhere in the age was introduced with the selfishness." education service or to return support of both the Conserva- What heads now wanted was it to a grateful Chancellor." Here's how to soften the blow and save yourself up to 301 on your present fuel bill covered by concealed subsidies from the taxpayer and from air- line profits on other routes. mmmmmr simple, cheap and without mess. Our installers work from outside the house, usually completing the job in one day.

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