Separate SIO and Family Liaison Officer roles
Daniel Morgan Panel · The Report of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel · Issued 15 June 2021 · Addressed to: Metropolitan Police Service
Government responseHome Office: Noted (Jun 2023)Metropolitan Police Service: Accepted (Mar 2022)
DeliveryMetropolitan Police Service says completed (Mar 2022)
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, Volume 1
The Metropolitan Police should ensure that the role of the Family Liaison Officer is never carried out by the Senior Investigating Officer of an investigation. There is an inherent conflict between these two roles.
Daniel Morgan Panel, The Report of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel · 15 Jun 2021 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
The Panel recommended separating Senior Investigating Officer and Family Liaison Officer roles. The Metropolitan Police Service stated in March 2022 that the recommendation was complete, having identified no dual roles in reviews of past deployments and noting that training courses would reinforce the separation (Metropolitan Police Service response, Mar 2022; Metropolitan Police Service, Mar 2022). The Home Office reported in June 2023 that the National Major Crime Investigation Manual, which sets guidance that the two roles are distinct, had been embedded across all police forces (Home Office response, Jun 2023).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 1 Oct 2026.
Government response
●Home Office · Noted · 15 Jun 2023
2.1.5. The new National Major Crime Investigation Manual (MCIM) published in November 2021 covers all aspects of major crime investigation and sets the standard for all forces alongside the relevant Authorised Professional Practice (APP) produced by the College of Policing. The MCIM now clearly sets out guidance that the role of senior investigating officer and family liaison officer are distinct with their own individual strategies. The manual sets out how major crime investigations should be strategically managed including the importance of adopting a professionally curious mindset, testing investigative hypotheses, and the use of the National Decision Model in decision making. The MCIM is now embedded in practice across all police forces.
Response document: Government response to the report of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel
●Metropolitan Police Service · Accepted · 22 Mar 2022
- The National Major Crime Investigation Manual (MCIM 2021) details the separate roles of SIO and FLO which have their own distinct and individual strategy.
- Review of FLO deployments completed and no cases of dual FLO/SIO role identified.
- The College of Policing own the Family Liaison Authorised Professional Practice (APP) and minor amendments are anticipated to fully address the recommendation.
- MPS courses for investigators and family liaison officers will deliver a reminder of the necessity for the roles to be separate.
Extract from: Daniel Morgan Independent Panel Recommendations Annex (accessible version)
Delivery
●Metropolitan Police Service says completed · 22 Mar 2022
The MPS accepted this recommendation.
A review was conducted of all 337 FLO deployments from January 2021 to October 2021. No examples of an officer performing the dual role of SIO and FLO were identified.
A dip sample was then completed of 1129 FLO deployments which took place between Jan 2016 and Jan 2021 – a total of circa 60 deployments. No examples of an officer performing the dual role of SIO and FLO were identified. It should be understood that the policy does not preclude the SIO from having meetings with the family in their capacity as SIO.
There will be ongoing assurance provided through the relevant policy, authorised professional practice and relevant courses the family liaison roles and senior investigating officers participate in. Detail of the delivery of this is contained within the delivery plan.
Current status: Complete
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