Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to assess the length of time it takes to proceed with and conclude allegations of misconduct against serving police officers.

It is important, for the public and officers, that allegations of police misconduct are dealt in a timely manner.

The Home Office introduced new legislation on 1 February 2020 to impose a requirement on the police and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to provide a written explanation if any misconduct investigation is not completed in 12 months - setting out what progress it has made, why it hasn’t completed the investigation and the steps it will take to conclude the investigation.

The IOPC publishes data on police complaints, including the timeliness of complaints handling and investigations by police forces, and the time taken to complete its own investigations into complaints or other matters. The Home Office is currently reviewing its own collection of data in relation to the police disciplinary system, including data on timeliness.

The Home Office does not collect data on suspensions. Suspension of police officers or police staff is a matter for local forces.