Member

Crucially—the noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, may be interested in this, given the point she made—Clause 16 preserves the central role of the commanding officer in discipline and operational effectiveness. It does not remove the commanding officer from the process. They must still be notified if a suspect is taken into custody, and that notification must take place within six hours. In exceptional cases, commanding officers will also retain the power to authorise custody, preserving operational flexibility. Where they do so, they must notify the provost marshal for serious crime and the provost marshal of the relevant service police force, ensuring that oversight is maintained.