Home Affairs CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by the Independent Police Complaints Commission [LSP 10]

Summary

Since it became operational in 2004, the IPCC’s investigations, casework and research activity has provided an important source of information to help drive improvement in policing across England and Wales. The IPCC can point to a number of specific examples where, as a result of its work, systemic changes have been made either for one specific police force or for the service as a whole.

Where a need for a change in policy is identified, the IPCC makes recommendations to ACPO, NPIA or other relevant bodies and IPCC Commissioners also engage frequently with relevant organisational leads to ensure that learning from the Commission’s work is taken forward. The Commission will continue to have an important role to play in this area both in identifying and recommending improvements to the police service and dealing with areas affecting public confidence in policing such as tackling corruption.

In order to maximise public confidence in the IPCC and to ensure that the Commission’s recommendations are taken seriously, the IPCC is seeking a statutory framework in which its institutional recommendations require a formal published response by the responsible authority within a specific period of time. This will also provide a route for both the new College of Policing and the soon to be elected Police and Crime Commissioners to follow up on areas requiring improvement.

Given that the College of Policing is mandated with setting and upholding standards in policing, it will be important for it to build effective relationships with the IPCC, along with other members of the policing landscape, to ensure it is able to make maximum use of the intelligence and evidence that they produce. The IPCC looks forward to working with the College in the future.

The IPCC’s Role in Improving Standards in the Police Service

1. As well as having investigative powers and an appellate function, the IPCC also has a responsibility for oversight of the police complaints system as a whole. The IPCC carries out this role alongside key stakeholders and in relation to its priority areas1 to ensure that improvements are delivered across the system. In relation to the complaints system as such, the IPCC issues statutory guidance to police forces on how they should handle complaints and referrals under the Police Reform Act. A revised version of this guidance, taking account of continued learning as well as new legislation, is currently out for consultation and will be issued in November 2012. It stresses that complaints should be approached as an important source of feedback from those in contact with the police, which can be used to influence and monitor standards of policing.

2. Through the course of its work, the IPCC has been able to identify opportunities to improve policy and practice within individual police forces or across the service as a whole. These opportunities have arisen from individual investigations where specific learning recommendations were made, through the assessment of appeals or as the result of a more in-depth research study in which specific areas of police practice, known to have impacted on public confidence, have been considered. In addition, the IPCC is responsible for the publication of quarterly and annual performance data/statistics on complaints recorded against the police, how they have been handled and subsequent appeals to the IPCC. The annual reports detail national and force level data and identify trends providing police forces with key information which they are encouraged to use as part of their continual assessment of their own policy and practice.

3. As well as making recommendations directed at specific forces or the police service as a whole, the IPCC also shares and disseminates learning through its Learning the Lessons Bulletins. These are produced by a multi-agency group, led by the IPCC, and contain a series of easy to read case studies to encourage policy makers, managers, officers and staff to consider a series of questions and think about how they could prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.

4. Some specific examples of where the IPCC has identified and made improvements to policing are provided below:

Code of practice on the management of police pursuits

5. In 2007, the IPCC conducted a detailed research analysis into police road traffic incidents involving serious and fatal injuries. This piece of work identified shortcomings in police practice around police pursuits and the Commission worked closely with ACPO and road safety groups to improve national policy in this area. One of the specific recommendations in the report was that ACPO guidance on the management of police pursuits should be made subject of a statutory code. Although the process of codification commenced, it stalled in 2010 with the formation of a new government. The IPCC continued to pursue the matter with relevant national stakeholders and the Minister for Policing. The Minister recognised the value of this work and in May 2011, the Code of Practice on the Management of Police Pursuits was presented to Parliament requiring pursuits to be conducted to exacting standards set by ACPO, ensuring maximum safety for members of the public and police officers.

Deaths in police custody

6. Figures from the IPCC’s predecessor body, the Police Complaints Authority, indicate that in the year’s prior to the establishment of the IPCC, deaths in police custody remained constant at 30–34 each year. There has been a downward trend in the number of deaths annually since then with 15 being recorded in 2011–12. The IPCC has conducted rigorous and transparent investigations following many of these deaths, which have resulted both in individuals being held to account where necessary and in the IPCC making recommendations in relation to training, equipment and facilities.

7. Recently, the IPCC has helped shape new national guidance on the safer detention and handling of detainees. The Commission worked with ACPO and the NPIA on the second edition of the ACPO Guidance on the Safer Detention and Handling of Persons in Police Custody, which was released in March 2012. The guidance focuses on practical issues within custody and aims to provide a definitive guide to police forces on strategic and operational policies to raise standards of care within custody. The IPCC made a number of recommendations on best practice as a result of learning arising from its work which have been reflected in the new guidance. One key change relates to the handling of detainees who are intoxicated. A new definition of “drunk and incapable” has been included, meaning someone who is unable to walk or stand unaided, or is unaware of their actions or unable to fully understand what is said to them. If a person is found to be drunk and incapable then they should be treated as being in need of medical assistance at hospital and an ambulance should be called. The revised document also gives further guidance on a range of other areas including risk assessments, handover procedures and dealing with detainees with diabetes.

Mental health and police custody

8. In 2008 the IPCC published a research report which examined the extent and use of police stations as “places of safety” under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983. This followed concerns raised by the Commission about the number of people with mental health problems who died in police custody. The study sought to identify good practice and made a series of recommendations for the police, health, social care and other relevant bodies, to seek to minimise the use of police custody as a place of safety.

9. This was the first time national statistics on this subject had been produced and they were used to inform national policy including the report by Lord Bradley into mental health and offending. They formed part of the resulting recommendations to reduce the practice of using custody suites as places of safety. In addition the report was used to encourage local healthcare providers to create alternative places of safety for people with a mental illness coming into contact with police custody. The Home Secretary recently confirmed that she had secured the Health Secretary’s commitment to divert more mentally ill offenders away from the criminal justice system, including introducing mental health liaison and diversion services at every police station that needs them. These measures as well as an NHS commissioned pilot to deliver a police custody health service are in tune with the recommendations made by the IPCC in 2008.

Gender violence

10. The IPCC has conducted a number of investigations following fatal incidents of domestic violence where it is alleged that the police have failed to protect the victim. A number of recommendations and areas of learning have been identified and disseminated throughout the police service. These included a recommendation to all forces that they conduct domestic homicide reviews following a domestic murder, a recommendation to the Home Office that it consider changes to legislation to ensure that offenders who return to the UK having served a life sentence in another country are subject to a life licence here and a recommendation to ACPO that it make amendments to the national call handling standards.

11. Similarly, the IPCC has recently produced a report, jointly with ACPO, on the abuse of police powers for purposes of sexual exploitation. This arose from a number of cases dealt with both by the IPCC and individual police forces. The report contains recommendations designed to prevent, detect and monitor such behaviour and to learn lessons from individual cases of abuse.

Police corruption

12. In July 2011 and in the wake of concerns around phone hacking, the Home Secretary requested a report on the IPCC’s experience of corruption in the police service in England and Wales. The IPCC submitted its initial report at the end of August 2011 with a final, more detailed report submitted in April 2012.

13. The report illustrated the kind of behaviour that undermines public confidence in the police such as abuse of authority, perverting the course of justice, and accepting generous hospitality. A number of recommendations for change were identified, which included the need for Chief Constables to ensure more consistency in their recording and referral of corruption cases to the IPCC, the need for clearer public information about what constitutes police corruption and the need for a more effective national system for handling allegations of corruption against very senior officers. The IPCC is working with ACPO and others to ensure these actions are taken forward.

A Statutory Framework for IPCC Recommendations

14. The examples above show that throughout its work, the IPCC regularly identifies institutional failings in police forces about which recommendations for change are made. There is currently no regulatory framework or mechanism to ensure such recommendations are properly followed up or enforced and this has understandably caused concern from a number of bodies.

15. A statutory framework in which IPCC institutional recommendations require a formal published response by the responsible authority within a specific period of time would help reinforce public confidence in the work of the IPCC and the police more generally. It would also provide a route for both the College of Policing and the new Police and Crime Commissioners to follow up on areas requiring improvement.

Working with the new College of Policing

16. As evidenced above, the IPCC currently works closely with ACPO, NPIA and other policing bodies to ensure that changes are made to policing policy and practice as a result of IPCC learning and recommendations. The Commission will continue to have an important role to play in this area both in identifying and recommending improvements to the police service and dealing with areas affecting public confidence such as tackling police corruption, particularly where this results in investigations into very senior police officers.

17. Currently the NPIA plays an important role in disseminating learning both as part of the Learning the Lessons multi-agency group (see paragraph 3) and through its projects such as the Police Online Knowledge Area (POLKA), a vital tool to help improve collaboration and information sharing across the police service.

18. Given that the new College of Policing is mandated with setting and upholding standards in policing, it will be important for it to build effective relationships with the IPCC, alongside other relevant organisations, to ensure it is able to make maximum use of the intelligence and evidence that the Commission produces. The IPCC looks forward to working with the College and hopes that it will be able to build upon the success of past initiatives by ensuring that new and improved ways of learning are identified and taken forward for the benefit of the police service and public as a whole.

Further Information on the IPCC

19. The IPCC was established by the Police Reform Act 2002 (PRA) and became operational in April 2004. Its primary statutory function is to secure and maintain public confidence in the police complaints system in England and Wales. It acts as an appeal body for some locally handled complaints and issues statutory guidance on complaints handling to police forces. It undertakes independent investigations into the most serious injuries and other human rights breaches; and has the power to manage or supervise police investigations. Its statutory role also involves an obligation to measure, monitor and where necessary, seek to improve the current system. The IPCC is independent and makes its decisions independently of the police, Government and interest groups.

20. The IPCC was created following both public and political concerns about the lack of an independent system to deal with complaints and conduct matters within the police service. Since 2004, the organisation’s remit has been extended to include serious complaints and conduct matters relating to staff at the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the UK Border Agency (UKBA).

21. The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 has extended the IPCC’s remit further. Since January 2012, the IPCC has been responsible for deciding whether any criminal allegations relating to the occupant of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC) or his Deputy should be investigated. The IPCC will have a similar remit over Police and Crime Commissioners and their deputies following their election in November.

22. The IPCC is run by a Chair, Deputy Chair and ten Commissioners. Together they make up the Commission. Commissioners (other than the two non-executive Commissioners and the Chair) have an operational role and also have responsibility for oversight of the organisation as a whole. Commissioners are appointed by the Home Secretary and by law they must never have served as a police officer. The Commission is supported by a Chief Executive, a small management team and a staff of about 370. In 2011–12, the IPCC received an annual budget of £34.3 million.

Independent Police Complaints Commission

October 2012