Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to review version four of the Joint Interim Interview Protocol which applies to detainees in police custody.

The Joint Interim Interview Protocol was developed by the CPS, NPCC, Law Society, Criminal Law Solicitor’s Association and the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association as a temporary requirement at the start of the pandemic to ensure the functioning of the criminal justice system was maintained. An exit strategy from the protocol is ongoing and will continue to be reviewed by its signatories. It is for the signatories to this operational protocol – the NPCC, CPS and solicitors’ organisations – to determine how this should progress.

Since the implementation of version 4 of the protocol on 4 October, ‘in person’ attendance for legal advice has been the default position, subject to some exemptions including inadequate police infection control measures, detainee or solicitor being COVID positive and other exceptional health and safety reasons. It is not believed to be practicable to remove the protocol in its entirety whilst there remains the possibility that detainees and/or solicitors may be COVID-positive.

The Home Office has been chairing a weekly operational meeting with custody partners (Independent Custody Visiting Association, National Appropriate Adult Network, NPCC, Police Federation, Law Society and others) since March 2020. This has allowed for effective communication, feedback and learning to be embedded and the operational impact of the interview protocol to be assessed on a continuing basis.