Complex police complaints

#13 — Tax system complexity drives evasion, errors, increased costs, and greater customer contact.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: We asked HMRC what areas of the tax system need to be addressed to achieve efficiencies. HMRC said the tax system is very complex, which generates opportunities for evasion and avoidance, can cause errors and increase costs through greater customer …

Gov response: 1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2025 1.2 The government has committed to simplifying the tax system and taking this forward as part of its three strategic priorities for …

Accepted

#14 — Complex patchwork of CIL coverage and charging schedules across England lacks transparency.

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Recommendation: Around half of local planning authorities have adopted CIL, and its uptake has remained broadly unchanged for several years. There has been little progress towards addressing the complex patchwork of CIL coverage and charging schedules across England in the years …

Gov response: 65. As set out in the New Towns Taskforce’s report, the Taskforce has prioritised sites where housing can be delivered quickly to reflect the urgent need for housing and with high quality placemaking standards. New …

Under Consideration

#5 — Develop and publish Section 106 template clauses to streamline negotiations for local authorities.

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Recommendation: As part of the site thresholds consultation that will take place later this year, the Ministry must seek views on how standardised Section 106 templates could most effectively streamline the negotiation process across sites of all sizes. Based on the …

Gov response: 38. The Government recognises the importance of ensuring local plan-making is well-resourced to help deliver sustainable development and meeting community needs. However, we do not consider it appropriate to fund local plan-making through planning application …

Not Accepted

#11 — Police complaints system language remains overly complex, reducing public confidence

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: The Government’s recent changes to the police complaints and discipline systems were intended to simplify and speed up the process. Nonetheless, the language used to explain systems to members of the public who wish to make complaints remains too complex …

Gov response: The IOPC are already making a concerted effort to uphold confidence in the police complaints system. As referred to in the Committee’s report, this includes providing greater transparency in the publication of investigation outcomes, actively …

Under Consideration

#1 — Public perceives police misconduct complaints as over-complex, lengthy, and unlikely to result in significant action.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: It is an inevitable part of any complaints system that those whose complaints are not upheld will be discontented. There is none the less a perception that complaints against police officers are unlikely to succeed and that investigations are over- …

Gov response: The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) was launched following reforms to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) in 2018. The decision to combine the role of the Director General (DG) and Chair of the …

Accepted

#32 — Persistent concerns regarding delays, complexity, and inconsistency in police investigations.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: It is troubling, nine years on from the Committee’s last report on this topic, that concerns are still raised about delays to investigations that detrimentally affect people’s lives, about complexity of language and processes, and about inconsistency in updating and …

Gov response: The Government notes the Committee’s positive comments on the February 2020 reforms to the police conduct and complaints system, and is pleased that the Committee welcomes the reforms that “ensure the delays to investigations are …

Under Consideration

#27 — Urge IOPC to proactively communicate and defend its police complaint decisions.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: The IOPC has a statutory duty to uphold confidence in the police complaints system; and we urge the IOPC to embrace this role and to proactively communicate and defend the decisions it makes. (Paragraph 142) 50 Police Conduct and Complaints

Gov response: The IOPC are already making a concerted effort to uphold confidence in the police complaints system. As referred to in the Committee’s report, this includes providing greater transparency in the publication of investigation outcomes, actively …

Accepted

#26 — IOPC needs to improve defence of its police complaint decisions for public confidence.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: Evidence to our inquiry suggests the IOPC could do better in defending its role in police complaint decisions which, though they may not always be amenable to forces or police associations, must be accepted and acted upon if public confidence …

Gov response: The IOPC are already making a concerted effort to uphold confidence in the police complaints system. As referred to in the Committee’s report, this includes providing greater transparency in the publication of investigation outcomes, actively …

Accepted

#12 — Require police stakeholders to publish plain language versions of complaints systems

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: The police complaints system needs to be simpler and more transparent. We welcome IOPC statutory guidance which encourages forces to use accessible language and formats to explain the system, but it is not evident that all forces are yet doing …

Gov response: Reforms implemented by the then Government in 2014 require any learning recommendations by the IOPC to forces to be published. Under the same legislation, forces are required to respond within 56 days and their responses …

Accepted

#9 — PCCs have enhanced opportunities to improve police complaints through new models and scrutiny

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We note enhanced opportunities for PCCs to play a greater role in the local complaints process following reforms introduced in 2020. The three models present a unique opportunity for PCCs, as part of their complaint-handling responsibilities, to support proactively and …

Gov response: The Government notes that the IOPC has made good progress in minimising delays to investigations but agrees that there is more that the IOPC can do to ensure their powers are used most effectively. The …

Accepted

#4 — Many complainants remain unsatisfied with police and IOPC investigations into officer misconduct and sanctions applied.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: Each complaint has unique features, and we have heard from a significant number of people whose dealings with police forces, the IOPC or its predecessor have left them unsatisfied with the investigation of their complaints or the level of sanction …

Gov response: The Government agrees that there is a need to ensure the police complaints system, and those bodies that interact with it, are transparent and accessible and that efforts are made to produce plain language and …

Accepted

#30 —

Justice Committee

Recommendation: In response to this report the Government should provide us with data on the number of covid-19 related single justice procedure cases, which includes data on the outcome of the cases and the level of fine imposed.

Gov response: In response to the Report’s request for the total number of prosecutions of COVID-19 cases (including single justice procedure cases), please find the below table on the number of prosecutions for COVID-19 offences in 2021, …

Not Addressed

#29 —

Justice Committee

Recommendation: For covid-19 related offences a recipient of a fixed penalty notice, who does not pay the fine within 28 days should be told promptly if a police force decides not to charge. A recipient of a fixed penalty notice should …

Gov response: Government agrees that it is important to ensure that in an emergency the House of Commons is able to scrutinise the use of secondary legislation in a timely fashion. The biggest challenge of legislating for …

Under Consideration

#28 —

Justice Committee

Recommendation: We acknowledge the policing Minister’s point about proportionality but are concerned that the review process for covid-19 related fixed penalty notices was inconsistently applied by different police forces and unclear. For future use of fixed penalty notices the Government should …

Gov response: As set out in the Government Response to the ‘Joint Committee on Human Rights’ (JCHR) Fourteenth Report of Session 2019–21. The Government response to COVID-19: fixed penalty notices’, where an FPN is issued by a …

Not Addressed

#10 — Introduce a statutory Section 106 dispute resolution scheme for housing development.

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Recommendation: The Government should introduce a statutory Section 106 dispute resolution scheme, under the provisions of the Housing and Planning Act 2016. If the Government does not intend to pursue this, it should set out a detailed explanation as to why …

Gov response: 57. Planning practice guidance includes clear information on what should be included within IFSs. Further guidance is available on the PAS website. Initial PAS guidance was published in 2020, and this was updated in 2023 …

Accepted

#9 — Protracted Section 106 negotiations causing significant delays to housing delivery.

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Recommendation: Local planning authorities across England have expressed concern that protracted Section 106 negotiations are causing delays to housing delivery. Drawn out negotiations do not benefit public outcomes and cause undue delays to development, which may impede the Government’s housebuilding ambitions. …

Gov response: 54. CIL is a locally-set rate, and charging authorities must publish a charging schedule on their website which sets out their CIL rates. The Government considers these the most appropriate information sources for CIL. 55. …

Accepted

#4 — Strong case exists for Section 106 template clauses to streamline negotiations and reduce workload.

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Recommendation: There is a strong case for the introduction of template clauses for aspects of Section 106 agreements across England, as was recommended by the National Audit Office and others. Templates would allow local authorities to focus negotiations on site-specific factors …

Gov response: 35. The Government notes the Committee’s recommendation to reinstate funded Level 7 planning apprenticeships for students over 21. Current apprenticeship levy arrangements prioritise younger entrants and lower- level qualifications to support early career development. We …

Accepted

#28 — IOPC learning recommendations to police forces lack effective follow-up monitoring.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We are concerned that IOPC learning recommendations made to police forces across England and Wales to improve policies and practice in the handling of police complaints are not monitored for follow-up action. We have heard of a lack of clarity …

Gov response: Reforms implemented by the then Government in 2014 require any learning recommendations by the IOPC to forces to be published. Under the same legislation, forces are required to respond within 56 days and their responses …

Under Consideration

#25 — Ensure Home Office super-complaints website highlights designated body collaboration with non-designated groups.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We urge the Home Office to highlight, on its super-complaints’ website, that the 16 designated bodies should collaborate with non-designated bodies as appropriate to make a complaint on matters raised by non-designated bodies. Clarity of information is essential to ensure …

Gov response: The Government will update the police super-complaints website on gov.uk to state that designated bodies should collaborate effectively with non-designated organisations and, where appropriate, make a complaint on the basis of the matters raised with …

Accepted

#10 — Fund PCCs adequately to implement Models 2 or 3 for complaint-handling roles

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We urge the Government to fund PCCs adequately to take on Models 2 or 3 as a minimum requirement in their complaint-handling roles. This will provide PCCs the opportunity to work more closely with their forces, for example, to record …

Gov response: The Government will update the police super-complaints website on gov.uk to state that designated bodies should collaborate effectively with non-designated organisations and, where appropriate, make a complaint on the basis of the matters raised with …

Under Consideration

#8 — Government failing to adequately monitor and encourage new PCC complaint models

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: It may be too soon to understand whether PCC involvement in the police complaints system is realising the benefits the Government hoped for, but we are concerned that the Government is not doing enough to monitor implementation of the new …

Gov response: The Government agrees that further work needs to be done to encourage cultural change within policing. The Home Secretary has already established the independent Angiolini Inquiry. Part two of that inquiry is expected to focus …

Accepted

#7 — Consider police complaints within the ongoing PCC model review and assess PCC involvement

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We urge the Government to consider police complaints as part of the review of the PCC model currently under way and to make an early assessment of PCC involvement in the police complaints system.

Gov response: The Government strengthened the complaints and discipline systems in February 2020, introducing integrity reforms to improve transparency, accountability and proportionality. The Government welcomes further improvements to the timeliness of, and cooperation within, police misconduct cases—during …

Accepted

#5 — Operation Midland failures reveal urgent need for robust police complaints system accountability.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: The sorry story of Operation Midland and subsequent inquiries into how it was conducted demonstrates why a robust complaints and conduct system is necessary if the public is to be confident that police officers behave properly and will be held …

Gov response: The 1999 Macpherson Report left an indelible mark on policing following the terrible murder of Stephen Lawrence. Over the past two decades, since the report’s publication, significant progress has been made to address Sir William …

Under Consideration

#44 — Police forces' inconsistent data collection obscures ethnic disparity in misconduct cases.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: It is completely unacceptable that forces’ data on ethnic disparity in police misconduct has been inconsistent and incomplete to the point where it cannot be understood or acted upon. We are appalled that it has not been possible for us …

Gov response: The Home Office welcomes the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing in developing a new Race Action Plan for policing to address the issues of disproportionality in the police …

Accepted

#31 — IOPC has made efforts to build public trust through increased transparency.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: The IOPC has made concerted efforts in its first three years to build public trust in the police complaints system by actively listening to policing bodies and communities about their concerns and by providing greater transparency in the publication of …

Gov response: The IOPC are already making a concerted effort to uphold confidence in the police complaints system. As referred to in the Committee’s report, this includes providing greater transparency in the publication of investigation outcomes, actively …

Accepted

#29 — Require Government to monitor and review accountability for implementing IOPC recommendations bi-annually.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We recommend that the Government monitor and review bi-annually how effectively local policing bodies are holding their chief constables accountable for implementing IOPC recommendations to their forces, and report the outcomes to us.

Gov response: Reforms implemented by the then Government in 2014 require any learning recommendations by the IOPC to forces to be published. Under the same legislation, forces are required to respond within 56 days and their responses …

Under Consideration

#24 — Home Office pledge to broaden super-complaints designated bodies is welcomed.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We welcome the super-complaints process and are encouraged by the Home Office’s pledge to review the designated bodies that can submit super-complaints on systemic issues in policing to include a broader range of organisations, including disability organisations.

Gov response: The Government notes the Committee’s positive comments on the February 2020 reforms to the police conduct and complaints system, and is pleased that the Committee welcomes the reforms that “ensure the delays to investigations are …

Under Consideration

#6 — Appoint an independent chair alongside the IOPC director general to restore checks and balances

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: It has been argued that uniting the roles of chair and director general of the IOPC aids clearer decision-making and action. We disagree. This is not normal practice and it detracts from the ability properly to scrutinise the executive action …

Gov response: The Home Office and the NPCC recognise the risk of a lack of appropriate representation within a number of PSDs and we must not be complacent. Whilst this is not an issue unique to PSDs, …

Under Consideration

#3 — IOPC should widen investigator pool to include candidates with non-police investigative experience.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: The question arose during our inquiry whether the IOPC should be staffed by investigators who were not former police officers. Opinion divided on whether those who had served in the police should be excluded for potentially ‘marking their own homework’ …

Gov response: The Government has demonstrated its commitment to supporting the police and policing bodies, including PCCs, and providing them with the resources they need to fight crime and keep the public safe. That is why for …

Under Consideration

#16 — Reformed online services frequently exhibit functionality issues, causing significant delays and user problems.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: Despite these assurances, stakeholders such as the Law Society reported that some reformed services failed to meet their needs. For example, it explained that there were functionality issues with online portals for family services, such as family public law. These …

Gov response: 3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Recommendation implemented 3.2 HMCTS already obtains and uses regular feedback on how services are impacting users, for instance, through surveys embedded throughout the digital application process and …

Accepted

#46 — Professional Standards Departments lack BME representation and face institutional racism perceptions.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: Police forces must act swiftly to address perceptions that Professional Standards Departments are marked by institutionally racist practices. In addition, forces must address unacceptable racial disproportionality in their composition: it is totally unacceptable that 63% of all Professional Standards Departments …

Gov response: The Home Office welcomes the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing in developing a new Race Action Plan for policing to address the issues of disproportionality in the police …

Partially Accepted

#45 — Progress addressing ethnic disparity in police misconduct requires consistent monitoring and a future audit.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We take some encouragement from the NPCC’s national review into ethnic disparity in police misconduct and the work done by some individual forces to attempt to close the gap. The follow-up work from this review which has been reported to …

Gov response: The Home Office welcomes the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing in developing a new Race Action Plan for policing to address the issues of disproportionality in the police …

Partially Accepted

#43 — Racial disparity in police officer dismissals and disciplinary processes remains persistent.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: There is clear racial disparity in the number of officers being dismissed from police forces—BME officers are more than twice as likely to be dismissed as White officers— and in the number of BME officers and staff being subjected to …

Gov response: The Home Office welcomes the work of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing in developing a new Race Action Plan for policing to address the issues of disproportionality in the police …

Accepted

#23 — IOPC thematic reviews demonstrate potential to improve public confidence and policing practice.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We welcome the IOPC’s work on thematic reviews, specifically its aim to identify systemic learning by taking on more independent investigations in these areas and to improve public confidence in policing and the wider system. Ultimately, the result of such …

Gov response: The IOPC are already making a concerted effort to uphold confidence in the police complaints system. As referred to in the Committee’s report, this includes providing greater transparency in the publication of investigation outcomes, actively …

Accepted

#10 — Urgently set out a ten-year policing workforce plan addressing numbers, skills, and London's challenges.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We again recommend that the Home Office set out a workforce plan and strategy for policing over the next ten years as a matter of urgency. As previously set out, the plan should address officer and staff numbers and skills …

Gov response: Following successful delivery of the Police Uplift Programme, the Government has continued to work with forces to support the commitment to maintain officer numbers at Uplift levels. It is important that each police force has …

Not Addressed

#9 — Resource demands from protests highlight urgent need for a national police workforce plan.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: Following the policing priorities inquiry, we concluded that it was no longer sufficient for individual police forces to design their own workforce plans and recommended that the Home Office set out and implement a national workforce strategy that addresses officer …

Gov response: Following successful delivery of the Police Uplift Programme, the Government has continued to work with forces to support the commitment to maintain officer numbers at Uplift levels. It is important that each police force has …

Not Addressed

#7 — Repetitive protests significantly strain police resources, impacting other duties and officer wellbeing.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: The repetitive nature of the recent large Israel-Gaza protests places considerable resource constraints on the police. This places additional pressure on the Met, which, having failed to meet the Uplift target, already struggles to meet the regular demands of policing …

Gov response: The Home Secretary welcomed the report by Dame Sara Khan and Sir Mark Rowley on the challenges of tackling extremism. We take this matter seriously and have strengthened our approach through: (1) Reinforcing the role …

Under Consideration

#21 — Departments recover a minority of detected fraud, hindered by fragmented enforcement powers.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: Departments also only recover a minority of the fraud they detect. In 2020–21, departments had recovered £29 million out of the £243 million of detected fraud. Enforcement and recovery powers are also fragmented across government, which exacerbates the challenge government …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented The government holds an explicit policy to do more to find and report fraud, and, where possible, to recover fraud where we find it. Fraud Landscape …

Accepted

#5 — Develop cross-government communication strategy highlighting efforts in pursuing fraudsters and counter-fraud effectiveness.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: Government is not generating enough of a deterrence effect from pursuing those that commit fraud against the public purse. Most of government’s investigatory and enforcement capability sits in HM Revenue & Customs and DWP. PSFA will in due course set …

Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. fraud measures and the government’s efforts in doing so, is a priority for the PSFA. The PSFA works closely with the Cabinet Office Communications teams to identify, generate, …

Accepted

#90 — IOPC previously complacent on race, now commits to focused discrimination review

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: Evidence given to this inquiry indicates that the IOPC (and the IPCC before it) has been too complacent on matters of race, and specifically has not worked to collate data consistently (see chapter five). We welcome the IOPC’s announcement, in …

Under Consideration

#25 — Require police and CPS to publish analysed data on Victims' Right to Review Scheme.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: Given some victims and survivors’ negative experiences of the Victims’ Right to Review Scheme, we agree with Rape Crisis England and Wales that the Government require the police and the CPS to publish data covering how many cases are submitted …

Gov response: The Victims’ Right to Review (VRR) Scheme, provides victims the opportunity to have their case reviewed, when a ‘qualifying decision’ is made. Where a complainant requests a VRR, the outcome is either that a decision …

Accepted

#21 — Criminal Justice Board failed to meet for two years, undermining system coordination.

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: We repeatedly heard from MoJ that the various parts of the criminal justice system–courts, prisons, probation services and police–are connected and changes in one part of the system have consequences elsewhere.52 However, for two years between July 2021 and July …

Not Addressed