The end of May saw the State Opening of Parliament and the Queen’s Speech, which laid out the new Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government’s legislative agenda for the coming months. Alongside issues such as the Health Service, the environment and the UK’s relationship to the European Union, there was also much that was pertinent to the Police Service. This included the legislation to create a border police force and tackle alcohol-related antisocial behaviour in the form of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, as well as the introduction of elected officials to oversee police work. The speech also included new legislation concerned with civil liberties, a development which many fear may have a direct impact on the evidence-gathering process. The government proposes to introduce the Freedom (Great Repeal) Bill, a piece of legislation designed to, according to the Number 10 website: ‘Roll back the state, reducing the weight of government imposition on citizens that has increased in recent years through legislation and centralised programmes’. Elements of the bill include the repeal of certain criminal laws, the restriction of the scope of the DNA database, the storage of email and internet records and the regulation of the use of CCTV. ACPO President Sir Hugh Orde gave his reaction to the upcoming legislation. He said: “This Queen’s Speech contains much that concerns the Police Service and we look forward to working with the new government to continue keeping the public and our communities safe from crime. “Policing has always been about serving and answering to local communities. Those are the origins of policing in this country and chief officers welcome the commitment towards local accountability. One of the great strengths of the British style of policing is the balance between that robust accountability at local level and operational independence. The Police Service is more effective through the freedom to make professional judgments about how we keep people safe, free from political interests. The government has said it wants to protect that operational independence. We now need to see the detail of how it will aim to strike that balance in the proposed Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill. “Also contained within the proposed Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill are proposals on reviewing the Licensing Act. Excessive alcohol use is closely linked with violence and anti-social behaviour and places huge demand on the Service in and around city centres in policing the night-time economy. We look forward to contributing that professional perspective to the consultation process around this legislation.”