Police: Disciplinary Proceedings

(asked on 21st June 2019) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 263906 on Police: Disciplinary Proceedings, what steps he is taking to ensure that the package of measures have been designed to ensure that investigations and proceedings are brought to a conclusion in a timely and proportionate way; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Nick Hurd Portrait
Nick Hurd
This question was answered on 25th June 2019

The Government has developed a comprehensive package of police integrity reforms following two independent reviews and public consultations, and extensive consultation with policing stakeholders. An impact assessment was published during the passage of the Policing and Crime Act 2017.

Following the introduction of public misconduct hearings in public, with legally qualified chairs (2015), the Government has extended the police discipline system to former officers and introduced the police barred list (December 2017). In January 2018, reforms to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) were implemented, streamlining decision-making and creating the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). Investigation times have fallen since these changes were introduced.

The next phase of reforms will build on these changes, overhauling the police complaints and discipline systems. Changes to simplify processes, for example when making decisions on a case to answer, will make the system more efficient and the police and IOPC will be required to provide a written explanation if an investigation goes beyond 12 months and set out next steps. The police discipline system is being reformed to make it more transparent, including requiring more information to be provided to officers under investigation, and focusing it more on conduct that would warrant a disciplinary sanction, establishing a more proportionate process for matters that fall below that threshold


These reforms will be introduced when Parliamentary time allows.

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