Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the apology from the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police for providing erroneous evidence used to justify the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ban on the level of public confidence in policing in the West Midlands.

The Government recognises that public confidence in policing is fundamental to the effectiveness of the police and to the principle of policing by consent.

I met the Acting Chief Constable, Scott Green, for West Midlands Police on 21 January. I was assured that appropriate steps are being taken to rebuild trust and confidence in the force and its leadership team, including with local communities.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has launched an investigation, using its power of initiative, into the role of West Midlands Police in the intelligence and decision‑making that led to the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.

Accountability for the performance of West Midlands Police rests primarily with the directly elected West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, who is responsible for holding the Chief Constable to account on behalf of the public. The PCC has a range of statutory powers to scrutinise force performance and governance, and to ensure that public confidence is maintained.

From Local to National: A New Model for Policing” published on 26 January set out the Government’s proposals to reintroduce a power for the Home Secretary to remove a Chief Constable on performance grounds and reforming the appointment, suspension and dismissal of Chief Constables.

Through Home Office funding to the NPCC Artificial Intelligence (AI) portfolio, detailed guidance has been developed and published on the responsible use of AI in policing, including through the NPCC AI Playbook and the Covenant.

All Chief Constables have signed up to the Covenant, which establishes core principles for the transparent, responsible and accountable use of AI and generative technologies in UK policing. It also explicitly refers to the need for processes in place to ensure AI output is not accepted uncritically.