Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with the Metropolitan Police Service on the level of its compliance with its statutory obligations (a) under the Data Protection Act 2018 and (b) with GDPR in relation to Subject Access Requests from members of the public.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Compliance with data protection obligations, including the handling of Subject Access Requests (SARs), is the responsibility of individual police forces. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) produces guidance for organisations on how to comply with data protection law.
The Data (Use and Access) Act received Royal Assent in June 2025 and includes some changes to data protection obligations while maintaining high standards of protection for personal data.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of mechanisms for sharing police misconduct data between forces.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The British tradition of policing by consent relies on mutual bonds of trust between the public and the police, and where police officers fall below the high standards the public rightly expects of them, it is crucial they are held to account.
Since 2015, there has been a presumption that all police misconduct hearings are made public, bar in exceptional circumstances. There is a statutory requirement for forces to publish the outcomes of misconduct hearings, unless preventing disclosure is considered necessary (e.g. in the interests of national security), for a period of at least 28 days. Members of the public can access published police misconduct outcomes via the website of the relevant police force.
There are processes in place for the collection and publication of police misconduct data. The Home Office publishes data on the number of police officers subject to misconduct investigations, including breakdowns by outcome and misconduct finding level, as part of the annual Police Misconduct, England and Wales statistical series, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-misconduct-statistics
Officers and staff moving from one force to another must obtain a new vetting clearance from the force they are transferring to before they are confirmed. In accordance with the College of Policing’s vetting authorised professional practice (APP), the parent force’s professional standards department (PSD) must provide a full complaint and misconduct history and any counter corruption intelligence relating to the officer concerned to the receiving force.
In addition, the Police Barred List prevents those dismissed for gross misconduct and gross incompetence from re-joining policing. Forces must check whether a proposed employee or appointee is on the barred list before hiring them.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing an independent National Police Misconduct Body to (a) collect and (b) publish data on police misconduct findings.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The British tradition of policing by consent relies on mutual bonds of trust between the public and the police, and where police officers fall below the high standards the public rightly expects of them, it is crucial they are held to account.
Since 2015, there has been a presumption that all police misconduct hearings are made public, bar in exceptional circumstances. There is a statutory requirement for forces to publish the outcomes of misconduct hearings, unless preventing disclosure is considered necessary (e.g. in the interests of national security), for a period of at least 28 days. Members of the public can access published police misconduct outcomes via the website of the relevant police force.
There are processes in place for the collection and publication of police misconduct data. The Home Office publishes data on the number of police officers subject to misconduct investigations, including breakdowns by outcome and misconduct finding level, as part of the annual Police Misconduct, England and Wales statistical series, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-misconduct-statistics
Officers and staff moving from one force to another must obtain a new vetting clearance from the force they are transferring to before they are confirmed. In accordance with the College of Policing’s vetting authorised professional practice (APP), the parent force’s professional standards department (PSD) must provide a full complaint and misconduct history and any counter corruption intelligence relating to the officer concerned to the receiving force.
In addition, the Police Barred List prevents those dismissed for gross misconduct and gross incompetence from re-joining policing. Forces must check whether a proposed employee or appointee is on the barred list before hiring them.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to introduce a statutory right for members of the public to access substantiated police misconduct findings.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The British tradition of policing by consent relies on mutual bonds of trust between the public and the police, and where police officers fall below the high standards the public rightly expects of them, it is crucial they are held to account.
Since 2015, there has been a presumption that all police misconduct hearings are made public, bar in exceptional circumstances. There is a statutory requirement for forces to publish the outcomes of misconduct hearings, unless preventing disclosure is considered necessary (e.g. in the interests of national security), for a period of at least 28 days. Members of the public can access published police misconduct outcomes via the website of the relevant police force.
There are processes in place for the collection and publication of police misconduct data. The Home Office publishes data on the number of police officers subject to misconduct investigations, including breakdowns by outcome and misconduct finding level, as part of the annual Police Misconduct, England and Wales statistical series, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-misconduct-statistics
Officers and staff moving from one force to another must obtain a new vetting clearance from the force they are transferring to before they are confirmed. In accordance with the College of Policing’s vetting authorised professional practice (APP), the parent force’s professional standards department (PSD) must provide a full complaint and misconduct history and any counter corruption intelligence relating to the officer concerned to the receiving force.
In addition, the Police Barred List prevents those dismissed for gross misconduct and gross incompetence from re-joining policing. Forces must check whether a proposed employee or appointee is on the barred list before hiring them.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve transparency around police misconduct records.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The British tradition of policing by consent relies on mutual bonds of trust between the public and the police, and where police officers fall below the high standards the public rightly expects of them, it is crucial they are held to account.
Since 2015, there has been a presumption that all police misconduct hearings are made public, bar in exceptional circumstances. There is a statutory requirement for forces to publish the outcomes of misconduct hearings, unless preventing disclosure is considered necessary (e.g. in the interests of national security), for a period of at least 28 days. Members of the public can access published police misconduct outcomes via the website of the relevant police force.
There are processes in place for the collection and publication of police misconduct data. The Home Office publishes data on the number of police officers subject to misconduct investigations, including breakdowns by outcome and misconduct finding level, as part of the annual Police Misconduct, England and Wales statistical series, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-misconduct-statistics
Officers and staff moving from one force to another must obtain a new vetting clearance from the force they are transferring to before they are confirmed. In accordance with the College of Policing’s vetting authorised professional practice (APP), the parent force’s professional standards department (PSD) must provide a full complaint and misconduct history and any counter corruption intelligence relating to the officer concerned to the receiving force.
In addition, the Police Barred List prevents those dismissed for gross misconduct and gross incompetence from re-joining policing. Forces must check whether a proposed employee or appointee is on the barred list before hiring them.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police (a) officers and (b) staff have (i) resigned and (ii) retired while under investigation for (A) misconduct and (B) gross misconduct in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
It’s crucial that police officers are held to the high standards rightly expected of them, and we’re committed to ensuring that the right mechanisms are in place to create an open and transparent police discipline system which delivers fair results for all.
There are provisions in place that enable disciplinary proceedings to proceed if an officer resigns or retires, In addition, where the former officers and those who resign or retire whilst under investigation are taken through formal misconduct proceedings and it is determined they would have been dismissed, they are placed on the Barred List, which prevents those dismissed from re-joining policing.
In May, we strengthened the system for holding former officers to account by introducing a statutory presumption of fast-track hearings for former officers, ensuring swifter proceedings for those who resign or retire before misconduct proceedings. Former officers who would have been dismissed had they still been serving will continue to be barred from future service.
The Home Office publishes data on the number of allegations of misconduct involving police staff officers and staff, including breakdowns by outcome and misconduct finding level, as a part of its annual Police Misconduct, England and Wales statistical series, available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-misconduct-statistics
Information is not currently available on the total number of officers who resign or retire whilst under investigation for misconduct.
Where an officer leaves the service during the course of an investigation of gross misconduct, it is in the public interest that investigations and proceedings that would have led to dismissal are taken to their conclusion. Data on the number of former officers who received an outcome of “would have been dismissed” at a misconduct hearing or accelerated hearing can be found in table MP4 of the data tables accompanying the latest statistical release:
This data is designated ‘Official Statistics in Development’ to acknowledge ongoing work to develop both the scope and data quality of these statistics. The Home Office is working with data providers to explore the availability of further data on officers who leave the service whilst under investigation.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to prevent police officers under investigation from (a) resigning and (b) retiring before disciplinary proceedings are completed.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
It’s crucial that police officers are held to the high standards rightly expected of them, and we’re committed to ensuring that the right mechanisms are in place to create an open and transparent police discipline system which delivers fair results for all.
There are provisions in place that enable disciplinary proceedings to proceed if an officer resigns or retires, In addition, where the former officers and those who resign or retire whilst under investigation are taken through formal misconduct proceedings and it is determined they would have been dismissed, they are placed on the Barred List, which prevents those dismissed from re-joining policing.
In May, we strengthened the system for holding former officers to account by introducing a statutory presumption of fast-track hearings for former officers, ensuring swifter proceedings for those who resign or retire before misconduct proceedings. Former officers who would have been dismissed had they still been serving will continue to be barred from future service.
The Home Office publishes data on the number of allegations of misconduct involving police staff officers and staff, including breakdowns by outcome and misconduct finding level, as a part of its annual Police Misconduct, England and Wales statistical series, available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-misconduct-statistics
Information is not currently available on the total number of officers who resign or retire whilst under investigation for misconduct.
Where an officer leaves the service during the course of an investigation of gross misconduct, it is in the public interest that investigations and proceedings that would have led to dismissal are taken to their conclusion. Data on the number of former officers who received an outcome of “would have been dismissed” at a misconduct hearing or accelerated hearing can be found in table MP4 of the data tables accompanying the latest statistical release:
This data is designated ‘Official Statistics in Development’ to acknowledge ongoing work to develop both the scope and data quality of these statistics. The Home Office is working with data providers to explore the availability of further data on officers who leave the service whilst under investigation.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether barracks sites used to house people seeking asylum will be run by private contractors.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have committed to close all asylum hotels and to achieve this, we will look at a range of more appropriate sites like disused accommodation, industrial and ex-military sites so that we can reduce the impact on communities.
We are working closely with local authorities, property partners and across-government so that we can accelerate delivery and more detail will be set out in due course. This will include available routes to market for Onsite Support Services.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of barracks sites on the health of people seeking asylum.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office remains firmly committed to ensuring that destitute asylum seekers are provided with safe, secure, and appropriate accommodation, and that they are treated with dignity throughout the asylum process.
To support this commitment, mechanisms are in place—managed by Migrant Help—to enable asylum seekers to request assistance or report any issues. This support is available 24/7 via telephone, webchat, or email.
Migrant Help actively seeks feedback from service users to help identify areas for improvement.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken to issue visas on the ability of Commonwealth citizens to participate effectively in proceedings before UK courts.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
UKVI will always seek to ensure those who need to attend court are able to do so in line with the Immigration Rules and wider court instructions.
All short term visit visas are governed by our published service standards. These can be found here: Visitors and transit: customer service standards - GOV.UK
Customers are advised to allow enough time to receive their visa before applying. Customers in certain locations have the option to apply for a premium paid service to allow them to receive a decision quicker than the advertised times. Information on premium paid services can be found here: Get a faster decision on your visa or settlement application: Applying for a faster decision - GOV.UK
Visa processing times are constantly monitored to ensure that visas are being delivered within our published service standards. Where an application will not be processed within service standards due to the complex nature of the application, the applicant is informed their application will take longer.