Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 6 February (HL Deb col 961), what representations they have made to the Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner, if any, regarding expediting the gross misconduct hearing proceedings for Mr Mike Veale through the use of statutory powers possessed by the Home Secretary.

Arrangements concerning the establishment of misconduct hearings are a matter for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC), and the management of the hearing itself is the responsibility of the independent Legally Qualified Chair (LQC) in charge of it. Decisions made concerning a hearing are done so independently of PCCs as well as Government and the Home Secretary has no powers to make directions in relation to those hearings. Given the independence of PCCs and LQCs, it would be inappropriate for the Government to seek to influence those decisions.