The current central government administration has maintained its commitment to police operational independence and the tripartite arrangements framed in the Police Act 1964. This specifies the duty of police authorities "to secure the maintenance of an adequate and efficient police force" and "keep themselves informed as to the manner in which complaints made by members of the public against members of the force are dealt with by the chief constable." Government policy on police accountability has a number of major themes: that the police should give value for money, among other things through better priority setting; the encouragement of self-help; the intent to identify and respond to consumers' wishes; and the requirement for the police to account more fully for their activities. During the next few years the key research issue will be the police use of new self-regulatory powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984. The nature of the audit police will be required to give and the analyses conducted by researchers could be closely scrutinized by local bodies responsible for monitoring police, i.e., police/community consultative committees and lay visitors to police stations. 45 references.