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Police and Justice Bill

When I became leader of the former Brighton borough council, we had a town clerk and a town clerk’s department. The noble Baroness, Lady Harris, has described the rather fusty atmosphere that inhabited that important office, and one which served the authority well. Having heard what she has had to say, I entirely agree with the spirit of the amendment. There have been reports on the way in which we should deal with the renewal of police authorities, and I tend to agree with what she is seeking to achieve. Agreeing as I do with the sentiment of the amendment, there will have to be some further thought given to how it is put in place. There will have to be a number of consequential amendments made to the Police Act 1996 and elsewhere in legislation to update references to the ““Clerk””. The clerk has not finally found his or her place in the redundant chapters of police authority history just yet, but I give the assurance that the noble Baroness seeks. If she will withdraw her amendment, we shall introduce a comprehensive de-clerking amendment that will not just work but will update the removal of the other references, too. Perhaps the noble Baroness will enable us to do that by withdrawing her amendment this evening.