Home Office circular 032 / 2008

Stop and account: amendment to PACE code A

Introduction

1. This circular informs changes to the recording and reporting processes under Code of Practice A issued under Section 60(1) (a) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984.

Main circular

2. From 1 January 2009, a police officer or member of police staff conducting an encounter under paragraphs 4.11 – 4.20 of Code A will be required to record only the ethnicity of the person.  Whilst the change removes the form filling process, it maintains the important requirement to record the ethnic classification of the person and to provide the person with a receipt of the encounter.

3. The recording of ethnicity for stop and account is key information. This enables the police and the local community to monitor and supervise the exercise of the stop and to measure and take appropriate action to tackle disproprtionality.

4. The introduction of the recording requirement in 2005 was to ensure that officers would be accountable for stop and account and that the levels of use against all members of the community but particularly black and minority ethnic communities could be monitored and evidence of disproportionality tackled. That remains the core objective of the new recording requirement and why the focus is on recording ethnicity.

5. The information gathered from stop and account on ethnicity is a key source of how the police and police authorities interact with the public at neighbourhood level, force level and nationally. The new minimum recording requirement on stop and account is a reflection of that importance.  In accordance with PACE Code A, supervisory management must monitor the exercise of stop and account and ensure that it is fully in compliance with the Code.

6. I have attached a short Q & A on stop and account (Annex A) and attached a tracked version of the amendments to Code A (Annex B).  Links to the PACE webpage and to the secondary legislation are below. The PACE webpage will be updated on 31 December with the clean version of the revised PACE Code A.

7. Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) will be issuing formal guidance in the New Year. This will include guidance on ongoing monitoring and evaluation of stop and account.

8. Forces should consider adding the link to the APA webpage on the receipt and other material that they may issue. The APA webpage also provides access to a downloadable poster on stop and a web-based survey that APA can monitor people’s experiences of stop and account.

Alan Brown
Head of Police Powers and Procedures

Useful links

PACE and Codes of practice (new window) - Home Office Police website

Statutory Instrument 2008 No.3146 (new window) and Explanatory Memorandum (new window)

Association of Police Authorities (APA) (new window)

NB:  Note for guidance 21 will be amended to remove reference to paragraph 4.13A; note for guidance 22 will be deleted; and reference to note for guidance 22 will be deleted from paragraph 4.2A.

Attachments

• Annex A - Q&A.doc (Microsoft Word file - 30kb)
• Annex B Code A 31.12.08 (tracked).doc (Microsoft Word file - 193kb)

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