WIREDGOV

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has asked  all police forces in England and Wales to conduct searches of their archives to identify and provide any documentation they have relating to events at the Orgreave Coking Plant in 1984.

This search for additional information forms part of the IPCC’s ongoing  scoping exercise to assist in identifying matters arising from the events at Orgreave which remain capable of investigation.

The scoping exercise began in April 2013 following an initial assessment of whether the IPCC could have any jurisdiction to investigate. The passage of emergency legislation in January to assist with the Hillsborough investigation clarified that the IPCC may have jurisdiction.

As part of the scoping exercise, analysis is already being undertaken of boxes of documents which have been transferred into IPCC possession from South Yorkshire Police. This initial tranche from an archive holding 65 boxes was understood to contain specific information relating to events at Orgreave. The remaining boxes which are yet to be considered by the IPCC are understood to contain general information about the miners’ strike.

However, it has been established that the documentation received does not cover the complete period under consideration and it appears to be a snapshot of the events at Orgreave. As a result, the IPCC has widened its search for documentation to cover other police forces, in addition to legal representatives who represented miners in the court cases which followed the events at Orgreave.

IPCC Commissioner Cindy Butts said: “I appreciate it is now almost 30 years since the events at Orgreave and a year since South Yorkshire Police made a referral to us - and people will rightly want answers to the questions they have. I know how raw the emotions are in mining communities around Yorkshire and the rest of the country. I am committed to ensuring we conduct a thorough scoping exercise to ensure we have all the information at our disposal to make a definitive decision about what matters remain capable of investigation.

“This is a hugely complex scoping exercise, not just because it relates to events that happened nearly 30 years ago.  The amount of documentation that we have to analyse is potentially vast . I understand the concern that exists around what occurred at Orgreave and in subsequent court proceedings and I know this remains a sensitive and emotive subject for many.

“Unfortunately, although we have made some progress, this is not something we can conclude quickly. The documentation provided to us as part of the initial referral from South Yorkshire Police in November last year and what we have been provided since is insufficient to enable a decision to be made on whether we can investigate.  The key issues for us to identify are what, if any, complaints have been made previously, what allegations were made, how those complaints were handled and which individual officers were subject to complaint. Additionally, it will be necessary to consider the strategic decisions that were made with regard to the collation, recording and presentation of evidence.

“It is clear the documentation we have can in no way be described as a complete record of events. It does not give us the information we need to make our decision on whether there are specific matters that require investigation. Therefore we have asked South Yorkshire Police to conduct an exhaustive search of its archives and we have written to all police forces in England and Wales requesting they conduct a thorough search of their archives.

“In addition we have approached law firms who represented miners in relation to Orgreave  to establish what documents they might hold. Discussions are ongoing. I have also met with the National Union of Mineworkers and representatives of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign to update them about the work we are doing and ask for any assistance they can give us in identifying relevant documentation.”