Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps with the police to review procedures to help ensure that serving officers do not face punitive disciplinary proceedings for raising concerns about operational risks

Police officers have a statutory duty to report any wrongdoing under their Standards of Professional Behaviour and it is vital that they are supported in doing so. There are a number of routes, both internal and external, to raise such concerns, including through the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) Reporting Line, which enables police officers and staff to report concerns of wrongdoing that a criminal offence has been committed, or where there is evidence of conduct that would justify disciplinary proceedings.

The Code of Ethics, issued by the College of Policing, encourages policing to use the recognised route to report concerns through force confidential reporting lines, and explains that ‘whistleblowers’ will be provided legal protections set out in the Employment Right Act 1996.

Crimestoppers have also announced a new phone number to report corruption and abuse within the police, jointly commissioned by the National Police Chiefs Council and the Association of Police Crime Commissioners, which, in addition to the public, is also available for use by serving police officers and staff