Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar on 16 March (HL Deb, col 168), what independent public scrutiny of Operation Conifer has been carried out.

Operation Conifer has been subject to scrutiny by its own Independent Scrutiny Panel, which checked and tested the decision-making and approach in the investigation; two reviews by Operation Hydrant in September 2016 and May 2017 which concluded that that the investigation was proportionate, legitimate and in accordance with national guidance; and a review in January 2017 by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (as it then was) of whether the resources assigned to the investigation by the Home Office were being deployed in accordance with value for money principles. In addition, the Independent Office for Police Conduct has also considered specific allegations related to the former Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police.