Mr. Bob Collins:

I made reference in the opening remarks to the homicide review that was undertaken a number of years ago, and to the current work being undertaken in considering the developments with regard to 999 calls, the unwarranted cancellation of some of those, and the way in which they are handled generally. In some respects that is accounting for past actions, even though they are very recent past actions. That is a critically important part of the work of a body such as the Policing Authority. To be perfectly honest, and without disrespect to anybody, I do not believe that in the absence of an external body such as the Policing Authority, that depth of information would ever have become available, or it certainly would not have become available within the timescale that it did, and in the way it has.

The question around the person or the body to whom the Commissioner is individually accountable for his or her actions, could be debated at some considerable length. It is not the most significant issue, in my book, but it is not without significance. What is really critical is the continuing possibility of the Commissioner and his or her colleagues having to give public account. That is in the new Bill, and that will be true for the Policing and Community Safety Authority, PCSA, as it is for the current Policing Authority. I do not want, in the slightest sense, to diminish the continuity element in these draft heads of the Bill. This will continue to be a significant part of the public giving of account in relation to the activities of the organisation. One could spend a lot of time debating precise definitions and I would prefer to root them in individual examples rather than in informal definitions.