I can today announce that the annual report of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is being laid before Parliament on 13 December 2006 and published on that day.

This is the second annual report from the IPCC. The report deals with the work completed in 2005-06 and, in particular, how the IPCC has dealt with the challenges which its second year of existence has brought and how it has engaged with diverse communities and stakeholders. It acknowledges that this has been a difficult year for the IPCC in which it has had to deal with many challenges and setbacks. The report also gives an insight into some of the high profile investigations in which the IPCC has been involved.

The report also looks forward to how the IPCC can help in showing how the new police complaints system can make a difference to policing. The three key areas which they suggest are: reducing the time it takes for bringing investigations of complaints to a conclusion; improving operational learning resulting from its work; and improvements to the discipline system.