Government to cut police red tape

The controversial paperwork - introduced in the wake of black teenager Stephen Lawrence's murder - will be ditched in a bid to crack down on gun and knife crime.

A long-awaited report by top policeman Sir Ronnie Flanagan, to be published on Monday, is expected to recommend the rule change for officers who stop a member of the public. However, the foot-long form is likely to be retained when a full stop-and-search is carried out.

During Prime Minister's Questions, Gordon Brown refused to comment on speculation that the Government will relax overall stop and search rules.

But, challenged by Tory leader David Cameron, he pointed out that Sir Ronnie's interim report had suggested a review of bureaucracy associated with the form - which is widely despised by police.

The paperwork - which can take officers up to seven minutes to complete - was brought in as a result of the Macpherson inquiry into the racist killing of 18-year-old Stephen in 1993.

The Macpherson report said they should be used for all "stops and stops-and-searches" including "voluntary stops". It added that the paperwork should include "the reason for the stop, the outcome, and the self-defined ethnicity of the person stopped".

Mr Cameron has pledged to scrap the bureaucracy across all police stop-and-searches, claiming there needed to be "far more" action to tackle weapons. He dismissed arguments that the tactic alienates ethnic minorities - who are far more likely to be stopped.

In an interview with The Sun, Mr Cameron argued black and Asian youngsters would benefit most from a tougher regime as they were the ones being stabbed and shot. Official figures showed last year that black people were seven times more likely than whites to be stopped and searched by the police in 2006, an increase on the previous year. Asians were about twice as likely to be stopped and searched.