ANG-8 Response Accepted

Strengthen recruitment and vetting practices

Recommendation

By June 2024, the College of Policing, in collaboration with force vetting units, should take further steps to prevent those unsuitable for policing from joining the policing profession. This should include further developing the Vetting Code of Practice, Authorised Professional Practice on Vetting, and other guidance on recruitment and vetting practices in order to prevent those who commit sexually motivated crimes against women and those otherwise unsuitable for policing from holding the office of constable. In particular, recruitment and vetting policy, processes and practices must be developed in the following areas: a. Applicants should be required to undergo an assessment of their psychological suitability for the role (which is not just a questionnaire). b. There should be more robust use of the Police National Database during vetting, including as a tool to reveal unreported adverse information about applicants to ensure that potential risks are not missed. In particular, the Database should be used when individuals attempt to move between forces. c. Any individual identified as having a conviction or caution for a sexual offence should be rejected during police vetting. This should be clearly outlined in the Vetting Code of Practice and reflected in the Authorised Professional Practice on Vetting, which should consider all contact and non-contact sexual offences. d. The Authorised Professional Practice on Vetting should be amended to make it clear that military and/or Ministry of Defence checks should be carried out on all applicants who have served as military reservists. e. There should be a fundamental review of the link between debt, mental health, vulnerability to corruption and suitability to be a police officer, to inform vetting decisions. Detailed consideration should be given to the amount of unsecured personal debt held by officers, and rules should be amended to mandate officers to report any significant changes in debt to vetting teams. In addition, the rules should require applicants and officers to provide further insight into their finances, including any payday loans, when requested during the vetting process. f. There should be increased rigour in relation to checks for authorised firearms officers, to ensure that vetting standards are met, as well as the introduction of a psychological assessment and an appropriate process for seeking feedback from supervisors or line managers to determine suitability for the role. g. No police officer should be onboarded, even if only for initial training, before all vetting is complete. In addition, each officer's force vetting should be completed before their National Security Vetting is initiated. All force vetting information should be passed to National Security Vetting officers for consideration.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- The government accepted this recommendation on 25 March 2024, with the NPCC and College of Policing committing to address vetting robustness (Government accepts all recommendations made by Angiolini Inquiry, Home Office, 25 March 2024).
- The College of Policing published a strengthened statutory Vetting Code of Practice in July 2023, making the obligations all forces must legally follow stricter and clearer (Angiolini Inquiry Part 1, Home Office, 29 February 2024).
- In April 2025, the government announced police vetting reforms placing background checks on a statutory footing, with automatic dismissal of officers failing vetting taking effect from 14 May 2025 (Police vetting reforms to boost officer standards, Home Office, 23 April 2025).
- The Angiolini Inquiry Part 2 report, published 2 December 2025, noted that only 3 of the 7 sub-recommendations had been implemented, and that a blanket ban on those with sexual offence convictions was still not fully reflected in regulations (Angiolini Inquiry Part 2 First Report, December 2025).
- No published evidence of mandatory psychological assessments for applicants or completed military/MoD checks for all reservist applicants has been identified as of March 2026.
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
Jurisdiction
England
Section Reference
Recommendation 8
Response
Accepted
Under Consideration Home Office Initial Response
29 Feb 2024

Home Secretary James Cleverly said: "The act of pure evil committed against Sarah shocked the nation to its core. My heart goes out to Sarah's family and to all the brave victims who came forward to help inform this report and drive change. The man who committed these crimes is not a reflection on the majority of dedicated police officers working day in, day out to help people. But Sarah was failed in more ways than one by the people who were meant to keep her safe, and it laid bare wider issues in policing and society that need to be urgently fixed. In the 3 years since, a root and stem clean-up of the policing workforce has been underway and we have made huge strides – as well as making tackling violence against women and girls a national policing priority to be treated on par with terrorism. But we will continue to do everything in our power to protect women and girls. I am grateful to Lady Elish for her meticulous investigation. Her insights will be invaluable as we move forward in supporting our police to build forces of the highest standards of integrity and regain the trust of the British public."

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Accepted College of Policing Follow-up
25 Mar 2024

The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) and College of Policing has at the same time committed to addressing the remaining recommendations in Lady Angiolini's report concerning police culture and increasing the robustness of police vetting. The government will follow up with further detail on how the recommendations will be delivered in partnership with the College of Policing and NPCC in due course.

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Progress Timeline
Official Report
09 Oct 2025

Inquiry assessment: Only 3 of 7 sub-recommendations implemented. Blanket ban on those with sexual offence convictions still not fully in regulations.

Published Evidence

Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Insufficient Progress
09 Oct 2025
Angiolini Inquiry Part 2 Report Other

Only 3 of 7 sub-recommendations implemented. Blanket ban on those with sexual offence convictions still not fully in regulations.

View detailed findings

Due to "complexity of work required", implementation has been delayed. Recommendation 8(c) on blanket ban for sexual offence convictions was accepted but not implemented in December 2024 guidance. After Inquiry Chair challenged this, Chief Constables agreed in September 2025 to change position for new entrants. Home Office draft regulations still do not fully reflect this. Target completion 2026.

The Angiolini Inquiry Part 2 First Report, Chapte… View Source
Source
Report Angiolini Inquiry Part 1 Report 29 Feb 2024
Responsible Bodies
College of Policing Primary
Recommendation age 2.3 yrs
Last formal update 09 Oct 2025