Mark Littlewood, campaigns director of Liberty:

"Today's amendments don't go nearly far enough. The amendment to police control would still leave police forces to face direct political pressure from the Home Office - in a way they are protected from at present. The government should strengthen the role of the police authorities, which could provide genuine local accountability for the police - not simply make them a conduit for the wishes of the Home Secretary.

"The suggestion that community support officers will now only be trialled in specific areas, rather than introduced post haste everywhere, ignores the real issue. The problem with community support officers is not the speed of their introduction, it's the basic fact that this gives police-style powers to people who do not have police-level training or accountability.

"We agree with the Police Federation: if we need more people to do police work, the government should recruit more police officers, not take potentially dangerous and ill-conceived shortcuts".