5Governance and financing
Governance
61.The College of Policing’s Board of Directors is led by an independent Chair, Professor Dame Shirley Pearce. In addition to the Chair, the Board comprises: the Chief Executive; four independent directors; one Chief Constable; one member of police staff; one member from the Superintendent ranks; one member from the Federated ranks; and one Police and Crime Commissioner. The purpose of the College Board is to secure the long-term success of the College of Policing. It sets the strategic direction and the values of the College and ensures that the College meets its obligations to the public, its members, its partners and the Home Secretary, as the sole member of the company. The Board is supported by the Professional Committee, chaired by the Chief Executive. The Professional Committee oversees national standard-setting for the police profession on behalf of the Board and supports the College’s wider strategic objectives. Members of the Committee include representatives from the PCCs and various police staff organisations. Chief Superintendent Thomas and Andy Fittes who gave evidence to our inquiry are members of the Professional Committee.
62.The previous Committee was disappointed at the ethnic composition of the Board. At the time of its report in early 2015, only one board member was from an ethnic minority background. Dame Shirley Pearce told the Committee then that the College was “about to advertise for another independent non-executive director, and we will do all we can to ensure that we use that position to increase the diversity of the board”.61 That ambition was not realised and there remains just one member of the Board from an ethnic minority background. Dame Shirley also told our predecessors that there were a number of skills gaps on the Board including legal knowledge, educational knowledge and understanding how professional bodies work. The latter two gaps remain unfilled.
63.It is unacceptable that the Board of the College of Policing has not been able to increase its ethnic minority representation. Moreover, the present position can hardly be described as setting an example for an increase in the number of ethnic minority police officers. We expect this to be addressed urgently, together with the skills gaps that have been identified, at the earliest opportunity.
Funding
64.The College of Policing is an Arm’s Length Body of the Home Office and a company limited by guarantee. A long-term aim of the College is to have a greater degree of independence and to achieve royal chartered status. We heard from the Royal College of Nursing that having a royal charter makes a big difference to how the College is perceived.62 In order to become a chartered institution the College of Policing must reduce its dependence on grant in aid funding and raise more than half of its income itself. At present two-thirds of the College’s income, £39 million out of a total of £63–65 million, comes in the form of support from the Home Office.63 Of the remainder, about £21 million comes from income from training and services provided by the College and around £3 million in special grants for individual projects. Alex Marshall explained that the College’s grant funding is being reduced which, together with other factors such as changes in National Insurance and pay rises, is putting pressure on the College’s budget.64 He told us that he needed to find around £8 million. He further explained that Treasury rules meant that the College does not have the freedom to charge what it wishes for the training it delivers.65
65.Given the pressures on the College of Policing’s budget and the desire on all sides for it to succeed, it seems strange to us that the College is being prevented by Treasury rules from charging what it needs to for the training it delivers. The Government must remove these constraints.
Membership services
66.Like many of the chartered institutions whose status the College aims to share, one means of raising revenue will be from charging membership fees. It is the intention of the College of Policing for standard membership of the College to be free for police officers for as long as it is possible to provide that level of subsidy. As a minimum, the College has pledged that standard membership will be free for the first three years and for as long they can afford it thereafter. It is envisaged that standard membership will provide police officers and staff with access to services that are required by individuals to fulfil their professional role within policing. These include Authorised Professional Practice (APP), exams and assessment, course and event booking, continuous professional development (CPD) recording, online collaboration and knowledge sharing.66
67.An opportunity exists for the College to raise funds by developing a premium membership service. This might include services such as: individual support for those preparing for promotion, access to advanced personal development or specific and specialist research, or training outside the core curriculum. The College also intends to provide categories of membership for those working for partner agencies, providers of services to policing, academic partners and organisations, or policing organisations outside the UK. There would be a charge for those categories of membership as part of the College’s aim to generate revenues. Alex Marshall told us that so far the College had been focusing on putting in place the fundamentals of being a profession and looking at high-risk areas for the public rather than pursuing a commercial agenda to increase income.67
International assistance
68.A further means of generating income is for the College to provide training to police forces overseas and the College is continuing to develop its business abroad. Since the College’s inception in 2012 it has generated over £8.5 million from its international work.68 The College has provided policing assistance over a range of disciplines including: crime scene investigation, forensics, child abuse, counter-terrorism, organised crime, hi-tech crime, leadership, developing senior women, and anti-money laundering investigations.69
69.Questions have rightly been raised over some aspects of the College’s international work, particularly with regard to some of the countries with which the College is engaged. It has worked with almost 60 different countries but that list includes those with regimes where human rights and civil liberties are either non-existent or where abuses occur on a regular basis. It has been suggested that by providing policing assistance to countries such as Saudi Arabia the College may indirectly be helping to facilitate the human rights abuses perpetrated by those regimes.70 This is a legitimate concern and one we raised with both Alex Marshall and Phil Gormley of Police Scotland, which also carries out such work.
70.In order for both Police Scotland and the College of Policing to provide international assistance, any requests must first go through the International Police Assistance Brief (IPAB) clearing process. This involves the proposals being disseminated to a group of 18 police, law enforcement and government stakeholders.71 There follows a two-week period during which “concerns or issues can be raised, synergies sought and duplication avoided”.72 All IPAB submissions include a consideration of human rights, indeed, in the case of Saudi Arabia the College itself highlighted human rights concerns as a potential ‘risk’ in its submission to IPAB.73
71.The College of Policing told us that, “in sensitive cases and particularly where there may be human rights concerns, proposals are submitted to Ministers for their steer.”74 The Foreign Office assesses proposals for working with other governments using the classified Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) guidance. At the end of the consultation period (and following any ministerial decisions) the proposal is sent to the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for International Policing, Chief Constable Andy Marsh, who then decides whether he supports the proposal.75
72.The College of Policing is clear that it would not take forward work if Ministers have rejected the proposals or Chief Constable Marsh has not endorsed them. Alex Marshall explained that:
The College would never provide training, or support the use of its products, in a country which was considered to be using British resources for unethical purposes. [ … ] The College would consider it a disappointing lack of due diligence if a proposed formal contract had to be rejected on the basis of further human rights guidance from IPAB.76
Alex Marshall confirmed that the College’s international programmes “are always consistent with the British model of policing by consent” and “always include consideration of respect for human rights”.77
73.We asked the College of Policing for details of their overseas work. Alex Marshall told us that he was advised by the Foreign Office not to answer our questions on this matter and cited reasons of commercial confidentiality and security.78 We wrote to the Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, but again no information was forthcoming. He replied that:
[ … ] due to the methodology utilised by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its tendering and contracting, i.e. Non-Disclosure Agreements, the details of any commercial activity between a UK Supplier and the Ministries of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remain commercially sensitive and confidential in nature.79
74.This contrasts with the openness of Chief Constable Phil Gormley to whom we put the same questions. Mr Gormley was able to tell us that in relation to the specific countries about which we inquired, “the total amount of income received since 1 April 2013 has been Sri Lanka £713,646, South Sudan £229,157 and UAE £119,812”. Mr Gormley further explained that there have been nine requests that Police Scotland has not supported in the last three years due to security and safety concerns. We also note that a Freedom of Information request submitted by Reprieve and published by the BBC has already revealed information about assistance being delivered by the College of Policing to Saudi Arabia.80
75.Following our evidence session and a request for further information, Alex Marshall reiterated the College and FCO’s stance:
The College has not disclosed the details of individual foreign contracts due to the risk of exposing certain countries’ vulnerabilities and, on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), to avoid prejudicing the UK’s international relations. [ … ] Additionally a number of countries expressed objection to disclosure of details of what the College has provided to them and how much it was paid per purchase [ … ] the FCO have advised us that if we released that information it would negatively affect our national interests.81
76.We fully support the UK assisting police forces in other countries to improve the service they provide. The College of Policing has been put under pressure by the Home Office to raise revenue, including through providing overseas training, and we support its efforts in doing so. We note in passing the College’s insistence that as far as England and Wales are concerned they do not see themselves as a training body but as a standards setting body. The UK brand of policing is rightly respected internationally and should be disseminated as widely as possible. However, the provision of training on the basis of opaque agreements, sometimes with foreign governments which have been the subject of sustained criticism, threatens the integrity of the very brand of British policing that the College is trying to promote. It simply smacks of hypocrisy.
77.Deciding whether the UK should enter into contracts with certain countries will involve difficult decisions, and ones which may often be based on factors which go beyond the contract themselves. There must be more transparency in the process and Parliament must not be denied the opportunity for proper scrutiny. It is unacceptable that the College, and the Foreign Office on whose advice the College is required to act, have been unwilling to answer our direct questions regarding the basis on which international assistance is provided. This is particularly worrying given that Freedom of Information requests have already put much of the information in the public domain and the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, Phil Gormley, has been able to provide us with details about its arrangements without hesitation.
78.To ensure that there is proper transparency and accountability, the College must be open about the nature of the international work that it provides. As a minimum this must include basic details about the training provided and the risk assessment of the training’s potential impact on human rights in the country involved. We also recommend that foreign governments confirm in writing the purposes for which the training will be used and that the UK Government secure a written guarantee that the training will not include any purposes deemed unethical by the UK Government.
79.We wrote to the Foreign Secretary to ask him to clarify the general policy of approving international contracts. He replied only on contracts with Saudi Arabia despite the fact that we had not asked about individual contracts but general figures such as those provided by Police Scotland. The Foreign Office should not hide behind any relationship with foreign governments under the guise of ‘commercial sensitivity’. For a Foreign Secretary to act in this manner and tell the British Parliament that it cannot disclose such important information is totally unacceptable. Based on his reply we question whether the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance guidance is fit for purpose.
80.We understand that Chief Constable Andy Marsh, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on International Policing, has been in discussion with the Government on a cross-government strategy for international policing, the aim of which is to provide further clarity on the ambition for British policing abroad. This is welcome and we recommend the Government accelerate the development of such a strategy which we want to see by the time we revisit this report.
81.The College should consider whether there is anything more it can do to help countries that have experienced the sinister effects of terrorism. The example we offer is Tunisia. Since the terrorist attack near Sousse in June 2015, UK Government advice is for British citizens to avoid travelling to that country. The consequences have been devastating for the Tunisian economy and those whose livelihoods depended on tourism. There has been a 90% fall in UK visitors to Tunisia in the first four months of this year compared to a similar period a year ago. If there was a role for the College of Policing to help countries that have suffered in this way to improve their security this is a clear and obvious example. Such assistance should be part of the UK Government’s bilateral support to Tunisia to improve its security to a level which would facilitate the regeneration of tourism and safe travel to these destinations and would be in line with the Prime Minister’s June 2015 pledge to help Tunisia strengthen its security and the general wish of both Government and Parliament that terrorism should not win.
61 Home Affairs Committee, Tenth Report of Session 2014–15, Evaluating the new architecture of policing: the College of Policing and the National Crime Agency, HC 800, Q139
62 Q69
63 Q127
64 Q108
65 Q109
66 Home Affairs Committee, Tenth Report of Session 2014–15, Evaluating the new architecture of policing: the College of Policing and the National Crime Agency, HC 800, written evidence COP005
67 Q106
68 College of Policing, FAQ on the College’s work in international training, 8 June 2016
69 College of Policing, FAQ on the College’s work in international training, 8 June 2016
70 Reprieve, UK training Saudi police in CSI techniques that risk torture, 7 June 2016
71 Those stakeholders are: Home Office, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defence, Stabilisation Unit, Department of Justice Northern Ireland, Scottish Government, Police Scotland, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Metropolitan Police Service, City of London Police, Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency, National Crime Agency, Crown Prosecution Service, UK Trade & Industry, Criminal Records Office, and the College of Policing
73 See response to FOI request submitted by Reprieve
75 Chief Constable Marsh does not grant ‘authority’ but decides whether to give it his considered support.
76 Letter from Alex Marshall, Chief Executive, College of Policing, to the Chair of the Committee, 14 June 2016, COP0007
77 Letter from Alex Marshall, Chief Executive, College of Policing, to the Chair of the Committee, 14 June 2016, COP0007
78 Qq137–142 and COP0009
80 BBC News Online, Torture fears as British police train Saudis, 7 June 2016 and specifically the response to FOI request submitted by Reprieve
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5 July 2016