All right, so it is in The Grauniad, the must-have accessory of every left-leaning commuter on the 8.16 from East Croydon.
But a piece by Alison Benjamin in yesterday’s Society section (yes, the one with all the local government jobs advertised at £50,000 that so irritates Big Eric Pickles) was interesting, since her view confirms Inside Croydon‘s long-held the scepticism about the various inquiry panels set up since the August riots: lots of talk, but no firm remit for recommendations nor commitment to act on any findings. A public demonstration of filibustering.
Benjamin attended last week’s session of the national inquiry panel (the one set up as a holiday project by Deputy PM Nick Clegg) held in Croydon. This is what she concluded:
It was clearly a cathartic 90 minutes for many participants, which is no bad thing. But it is doubtful it will have any impact on policy, given the plethora of government action plans due shortly, from tackling troubled families to stamping out gang culture.
The Metropolitan police is carrying out its own riots inquiry. So will the criticism voiced to the panel in Croydon about the lack of officers on the streets make any difference? “Our remit is to listen to what people are telling us and report back,” says Singh. “We welcome these other initiatives to tackle what is such a major issue and we’re inviting anyone who has set up their own inquiry to feed it into our work.”
So the answer to Benjamin’s question would be a “no” then.
via Will the riots panel change policy? | Society | The Guardian.
Related articles
- Croydon’s riot panel given just two weeks to collect evidence (insidecroydon.com)
- MP Wicks renews demand for urgent inquiry into Croydon riots (insidecroydon.com)
- Minister complains as council fails to claim £10m riot grant (insidecroydon.com)
- Police turn their back on Croydon’s riot review panel (insidecroydon.com)
- All together now: with the non-public, non-inquiry panel (insidecroydon.com)
