Government Refuses To Publish Controversial Assessment For Stop n Search

In response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by The Independent, the Home Office refused to release its assessment of the pilot and said the government needed a “safe space” to discuss changes.

According to report, the government has refused to publish its assessment of a controversial expansion of stop and search powers as it pushes to apply them to peaceful protesters.

A pilot that began in April 2019 made it easier for police to trigger “section 60”, which gives officers the right to search people without reasonable grounds in areas where serious violence could break out.

No evaluation of the results was published but Priti Patel announced in July that the conditions would be relaxed permanently as part of the government’s Beating Crime Plan.

Charities launched legal action over the move, causing the home secretary to backtrack on the decision, amid questions over the effectiveness of “section 60” and its disproportionate impact on black people.

“Since July, the home secretary has agreed to reconsider her decision,” a letter said.

“Given that policy development using the information requested is ongoing and the specific nature of the information, the Home Office considers that the public interest at present falls on the side of not disclosing the information.”

Campaigners accused the government of “avoiding public accountability”, while the president of the National Black Police Association said the relaxation of section 60 was “not needed and risks pushing an entire community further away from policing, at a time when trust and confidence is already low”.

Official statistics show that in the year to March, only 4 per cent of stops under the power resulted in an arrest and only 0.8 per cent of people searched were carrying a weapon.

Across all stop and search powers, black people are seven times more likely to be searched than white people, and section 60 is even more racially disproportionate.

The powers were designed to prevent serious violence, but last month the government drafted a law that would subject peaceful protesters to section 60 searches.