Police stop-and-search powers: May to address Commons after consultation

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/apr/30/police-stop-search-powers-commons-statement-consultation

Version 0 of 1.

The home secretary, Theresa May, is due to make a Commons statement on the future of police stop-and-search powers, suggesting that her nine-month dispute with Downing Street over the issue has finally been resolved.

May launched a consultation last July over her proposals to scale back the use of police stop-and-search powers and ensure their "fair and effective use".

At the time, the home secretary said it was no longer sustainable that black people were still seven times more likely to be searched on the street than white people. She also said it had been seen as sharply divisive in Britain's black and minority ethnic communities.

May had planned to announce cabinet approval of her proposals before last Christmas, but she ran into strong Downing Street concerns that the move could leave the Tories looking "soft on crime". Nick Clegg, who chairs the cabinet's home affairs committee, is said to have backed May's package but it was not sufficient to end the standoff.

The Metropolitan and West Midlands police forces have already massively scaled back their use of stop and search as part of a successful pilot scheme using a more "intelligence-led approach".

The more targeted approach saw the use of stop and search reduced by up to half and an increase in the "hit rate", the rate of detections and arrests, despite fewer searches on the street.