Recommendations & Conclusions
9 items
3
Conclusion
Sixth Report - Police Conduct and Compl…
Deferred
The question arose during our inquiry whether the IOPC should be staffed by investigators who were not former police officers. Opinion divided on whether those who had served in the police should be excluded for potentially ‘marking their own homework’ or that of their colleagues. On the other side of …
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The question arose during our inquiry whether the IOPC should be staffed by investigators who were not former police officers. Opinion divided on whether those who had served in the police should be excluded for potentially ‘marking their own homework’ or that of their colleagues. On the other side of the argument, ex-police officers bring the skills learned on the job and an understanding of police culture. It seems that an appropriate balance of former serving officers and investigators with other backgrounds is the right one to strike, but it may be that the IOPC should seek to widen its pool of potential candidates to include those with investigative experience from other spheres, including, for example, former military personnel.
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Government response AI summary
The government stated it would not prescribe how police funding should be spent or how local decisions should be taken, referring instead to the overall police funding settlement and the role of Police and Crime Commissioners in ensuring a robust complaints system, thereby deflecting from …
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Home Office
4
Conclusion
Sixth Report - Police Conduct and Compl…
Deferred
Each complaint has unique features, and we have heard from a significant number of people whose dealings with police forces, the IOPC or its predecessor have left them unsatisfied with the investigation of their complaints or the level of sanction applied to officers found to have misconducted themselves. This includes …
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Each complaint has unique features, and we have heard from a significant number of people whose dealings with police forces, the IOPC or its predecessor have left them unsatisfied with the investigation of their complaints or the level of sanction applied to officers found to have misconducted themselves. This includes cases of people whose family members or friends have died as a result of police operations, and who are aggrieved at the outcome of subsequent investigations that they feel do not match the severity of what happened to them. Those people do not have the advantage of high profile or a platform that leads to publicity for their cases. Their accounts may be found in the written evidence published on our website.
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Government response AI summary
The government agreed on the need for transparency but is not minded to prescribe new legal formats, deferring to existing frameworks and the independence of bodies like the IOPC, police, and CPS. It noted work already underway by these bodies and committed to keep the …
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Home Office
5
Conclusion
Sixth Report - Police Conduct and Compl…
Deferred
The sorry story of Operation Midland and subsequent inquiries into how it was conducted demonstrates why a robust complaints and conduct system is necessary if the public is to be confident that police officers behave properly and will be held to account and suitably sanctioned if they do not. Lady …
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The sorry story of Operation Midland and subsequent inquiries into how it was conducted demonstrates why a robust complaints and conduct system is necessary if the public is to be confident that police officers behave properly and will be held to account and suitably sanctioned if they do not. Lady Brittan’s account of how she— the wife of a wrongly suspected man not herself suspected of any crime—was treated is salutary. Those investigating potential police misconduct should be ashamed of leaving any vulnerable person feeling as if they are, themselves, a suspect. The families of the now-deceased Lord Brittan and Lord Bramall, as well as the former MP Harvey Proctor, have been left feeling that no-one has been sanctioned for the mistakes identified by Sir Richard Henriques in the Operation Midland inquiry Police Conduct and Complaints 47 and its aftermath. That is a result that satisfies no-one and does nothing to improve confidence that officers will be held to account when an investigation goes quite so badly wrong. (Paragraph 34) Structure and operation of the police complaints process
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Government response AI summary
The government largely highlighted its past actions, such as 2020 reforms to strengthen accountability and improvements to data collection. It stated its intention to provide a full and detailed response, including concrete actions, to the Committee's separate report on Macpherson in May.
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Home Office
6
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Police Conduct and Compl…
Deferred
It has been argued that uniting the roles of chair and director general of the IOPC aids clearer decision-making and action. We disagree. This is not normal practice and it detracts from the ability properly to scrutinise the executive action of the IOPC and to hold it to proper account. …
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It has been argued that uniting the roles of chair and director general of the IOPC aids clearer decision-making and action. We disagree. This is not normal practice and it detracts from the ability properly to scrutinise the executive action of the IOPC and to hold it to proper account. We recommend that the Government appoint an independent chair alongside the director general of the IOPC as a matter of urgency to restore the usual checks and balances.
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Government response AI summary
The government did not address the recommendation to appoint an independent chair alongside the IOPC director general. Instead, it discussed risks related to representation in Police Standards Departments and stated it would outline actions on ethnic minority staffing in PSDs in its response to the …
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Home Office
10
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Police Conduct and Compl…
Deferred
We urge the Government to fund PCCs adequately to take on Models 2 or 3 as a minimum requirement in their complaint-handling roles. This will provide PCCs the opportunity to work more closely with their forces, for example, to record and systematically monitor the root causes of complaints and recurrent …
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We urge the Government to fund PCCs adequately to take on Models 2 or 3 as a minimum requirement in their complaint-handling roles. This will provide PCCs the opportunity to work more closely with their forces, for example, to record and systematically monitor the root causes of complaints and recurrent issues that affect their communities disproportionately and how their forces resolve those issues. This depth and consistency of monitoring is required to achieve a national understanding of where fault lines exist in the complaints systems of the 43 police forces of England and Wales so that long-standing issues may be tackled. (Paragraph 64) Police forces and the discipline system
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Government response AI summary
The government did not commit to funding PCCs for specific complaint-handling models or systematic monitoring. Instead, it committed to updating the police super-complaints website to clarify collaboration between designated and non-designated bodies.
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Home Office
11
Conclusion
Sixth Report - Police Conduct and Compl…
Deferred
The Government’s recent changes to the police complaints and discipline systems were intended to simplify and speed up the process. Nonetheless, the language used to explain systems to members of the public who wish to make complaints remains too complex and too technical: this contributes to public disengagement and lack …
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The Government’s recent changes to the police complaints and discipline systems were intended to simplify and speed up the process. Nonetheless, the language used to explain systems to members of the public who wish to make complaints remains too complex and too technical: this contributes to public disengagement and lack of confidence in the system. (Paragraph 80) 48 Police Conduct and Complaints
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Government response AI summary
The government largely deflected by detailing the IOPC's ongoing efforts to uphold confidence, improve transparency, and engage with stakeholders. It also highlighted the IOPC's new Strategy 2, which will focus even more on increasing public confidence in the complaints system.
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Home Office
13
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Police Conduct and Compl…
Deferred
More than six months on from its publication, the Home Office has not yet responded to our report on Macpherson and has given no indication of when it will respond. We urge the Home Secretary to respond to that Report.
Government response AI summary
The government did not commit to responding to the Macpherson report. Instead, it agreed there is a case for greater coordination of recommendations from different bodies and committed to considering this proposal further, including how to better track progress against IOPC recommendations.
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Home Office
28
Conclusion
Sixth Report - Police Conduct and Compl…
Deferred
We are concerned that IOPC learning recommendations made to police forces across England and Wales to improve policies and practice in the handling of police complaints are not monitored for follow-up action. We have heard of a lack of clarity about how recommendations are monitored, and whether forces implement them. …
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We are concerned that IOPC learning recommendations made to police forces across England and Wales to improve policies and practice in the handling of police complaints are not monitored for follow-up action. We have heard of a lack of clarity about how recommendations are monitored, and whether forces implement them. Even where the IOPC makes key recommendations, and even where there may be interaction with HMICFRS recommendations, it is unclear how they are followed up.
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Government response AI summary
The government notes existing requirements for published IOPC recommendations and force responses, and commits to considering, with the IOPC, how to further track and report on progress by forces in implementing these recommendations.
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Home Office
29
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Police Conduct and Compl…
Deferred
We recommend that the Government monitor and review bi-annually how effectively local policing bodies are holding their chief constables accountable for implementing IOPC recommendations to their forces, and report the outcomes to us.
Government response AI summary
The government will consider, in conjunction with the IOPC, how to go further in tracking and reporting on forces' implementation of IOPC recommendations, but does not commit to the recommended bi-annual monitoring by local policing bodies or reporting to the committee.
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Home Office