asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how frequently complaints under Section 49 of the Police Act 1964 against policemen have been investigated by a senior officer who is from the same division or branch of the force as the officer against whom the complaint was made.

Except in the Metropolitan Police force, an investigating officer who is appointed under the Police (Discipline) Regulations to investigate a complaint under Section 49 of the Police Act 1976 must come from a different division or branch of the force from the officer complained of. In the Metropolitan Police the investigating officer may come from the same division but not from the same sub-division, and the effect of the provision is in fact the same, in that the investigating officer is not in the same chain of command as the officer complained of.