Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-02-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued on the use of reasonable force in the execution of a search warrant.

Mike Penning

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act Code of Practice B governs the searching of premises and the seizure of property from those premises by police officers. This includes the conduct of officers executing a search warrant (see paragraphs 6 to 6.15) and a note on compensation matters (see note 6.A). A copy of the PACE Code of Practice B can be found at GOV.UK.

The execution of a search warrant is an operational matter for the Chief Constable of the force concerned and so too is the consideration of damage claims which, as PACE Code B makes clear, will depend on the circumstances in each case.

The Department does not hold or collect data concerning the number of awards of damages paid out by police forces.