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<p>Under Section 54(2) of the Police Act 1996, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary
is charged with inspecting and reporting on the efficiency and effectiveness of every
police force maintained for a police area. Any reviews he carries out must be done
for this purpose. In its most recent Effectiveness inspection of Wiltshire Police
in 2017, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
judged the force to be “good”.</p><p>There is no provision in law which would prevent
the Government from commissioning an independent inquiry into Operation Conifer but
the Government would need a clear justification for doing so. As it is, Operation
Conifer has already been subject to considerable external scrutiny: from its own Independent
Scrutiny Panel; from Operation Hydrant (which delivers the national policing response,
oversight and coordination of non-recent child sexual abuse investigations concerning
persons of public prominence), and; from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary
which in January 2017 considered whether the resources assigned to the investigation
by the Home Office were being deployed in accordance with value for money principles.</p><p>On
this basis, and given Operation Conifer is an operational matter for the local police
force and it is for the locally elected Police and Crime Commissioner to hold their
force to account, the Government does not consider there to be grounds for the Government
to intervene to instigate an independent inquiry into Operation Conifer.</p><p>The
Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Wiltshire and Swindon wrote to Home Office
Ministers on 17 October 2017 and 24 April 2018. A reply from the Minister for Countering
Extremism was issued on the 15th December 2017. The PCC has not given the Home Office
any indication that he may be prepared to reverse his decision not to conduct an inquiry
into Operation Conifer.</p><p> </p>
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