Remove barriers to reporting sexual offences by colleagues
Angiolini Inquiry · Angiolini Inquiry Part 1 Report · Issued 29 February 2024 · Addressed to: National Police Chiefs Council
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, Recommendation 15
With immediate effect, all police forces should take action to understand and confront the barriers that police officers and staff face when reporting sexual offences committed by a person that they work with or in the workplace. This is in order to encourage victims, who are also police officers or police staff, to come forward and submit complaints, as well as to identify and remove those who are not fit for service. To do this, forces should: a. ensure, when a complaint is made, that sufficient and appropriate resources are dedicated to supporting the complainant, including maintaining anonymity where needed or requested, and ensuring an investigation is carried out as appropriate; b. address cultural barriers to reporting, such as re-victimising complainants by labelling or treating them as 'troublemakers'; and c. provide dedicated reporting processes for women in police forces who experience inappropriate behaviour related to their gender.
Angiolini Inquiry, Angiolini Inquiry Part 1 Report · 29 Feb 2024 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The recommendation called for immediate action to understand and confront barriers to reporting sexual offences committed by colleagues, including dedicated reporting processes for women.
- The Angiolini Inquiry Part 2 report, published 2 December 2025, found inconsistent progress across forces, with one force marking the recommendation as closed without progressing it (Angiolini Inquiry Part 2 First Report, December 2025).
- A Chief Constable stated it was "unlikely all forces will implement a dedicated reporting process for women" (Angiolini Inquiry Part 2 First Report, December 2025).
- Work on a culture change toolkit had been delayed due to funding and strategic leadership capacity issues, with a new deadline set for end of autumn 2025 (Angiolini Inquiry Part 2 First Report, December 2025).
Response — verbatim from government
●Home Office — initial response
Home Secretary James Cleverly said: "The act of pure evil committed against Sarah shocked the nation to its core. My heart goes out to Sarah's family and to all the brave victims who came forward to help inform this report and drive change. The man who committed these crimes is not a reflection on the majority of dedicated police officers working day in, day out to help people. But Sarah was failed in more ways than one by the people who were meant to keep her safe, and it laid bare wider issues in policing and society that need to be urgently fixed. In the 3 years since, a root and stem clean-up of the policing workforce has been underway and we have made huge strides – as well as making tackling violence against women and girls a national policing priority to be treated on par with terrorism. But we will continue to do everything in our power to protect women and girls. I am grateful to Lady Elish for her meticulous investigation. Her insights will be invaluable as we move forward in supporting our police to build forces of the highest standards of integrity and regain the trust of the British public."
Home Office · 29 Feb 2024 Written response →
●National Police Chiefs Council — follow-up
NPCC Chair, Chief Constable Gavin Stephens said: "The Angiolini Inquiry made for shocking and sombre reading, a view which I know is shared across policing. We must ensure there is nowhere to hide in policing for wrongdoers, that we lead a police service which the public, and especially women and girls, can trust to protect them and that we are uncompromising on the high standards our communities deserve. We have reviewed the findings and recommendations in detail and accept them all. We have a number of ongoing national improvement plans and we are assessing how these will be updated and added to in light of the Inquiry findings. Along with my colleagues and fellow police leaders we recognise this as an urgent call for action and we are committed to bringing lasting, impactful change for future generations."
National Police Chiefs Council · 25 Mar 2024 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 9 Oct 2025 Inquiry assessment: Inconsistent force progress. One force marked recommendation as closed without progressing it. Chief Constable says "unlikely all forces will implement dedicated reporting process for women". Source →
- 9 Oct 2025 · Angiolini Inquiry Part 2 Report Inconsistent force progress. One force marked recommendation as closed without progressing it. Chief Constable says "unlikely all forces will implement dedicated reporting process for women". View source → Insufficient Progress
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.