Guidance on disclosing material to journalists
Guidance should be issued by the Metropolitan Police to enable officers to determine whether it is appropriate, necessary and lawful to disclose investigative material to journalists. That guidance should include a requirement to record by whom, to whom and when any such evidence was disclosed, who authorised the disclosure, the reasons for the disclosure of the material, and the express conditions upon which the information is disclosed.
How was this assessed?
Response
Accepted
Response
AcceptedThe College of Policing's counter-corruption APP already outlines categories of inappropriate associations that should be recorded and what notifiable association policies should look like for police forces. This includes that any associations with private investigators should be considered as potentially inappropriate relationships. HMICFRS also provided several recommendations in this area and stated that police officers and staff in the MPS did not have to disclose their association with journalists or extremist groups. The MPS reviewed and published a new declarable associations policy in February 2023, and this has now been rectified.
Published Evidence
Published assessments of implementation progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Check the source type badge to see whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.
The College of Policing counter-corruption APP outlines categories of inappropriate associations including with journalists. The MPS reviewed and published a new declarable associations policy in February 2023. However the recommendation was specifically about guidance for lawful disclosure of investigative material to journalists, not just association policies. Guidance on when disclosure is appropriate, necessary and lawful -- with recording requirements -- is addressed through existing media relations frameworks but not through the specific bespoke guidance the Panel envisioned.
View detailed findings
The MPS updated declarable associations policy (Feb 2023) and general media relations guidance exists, but the specific guidance on lawful disclosure of investigative material to journalists with detailed recording requirements has not been produced as a standalone document.