Police Conduct Regulations 'must not be undermined' by vetting code

24 July 2023

Nottinghamshire Police Federation has warned that Police Conduct Regulations must not be ditched as part of a new vetting code of practice.

The revised code is designed to prevent undesirable people from becoming police officers and at the same time ensure that public trust and confidence in the service is maintained.

It was produced by the College of Policing in response to a number of high-profile incidents in which serving officers were found to have carried out serious criminal acts.

But there are fears that the measures could erode the safeguards designed to protect police officers whose status as constables gives them far fewer employment rights than employees in almost every other sector.

Branch chair Simon Riley said: “We are not opposed to introducing measures to stop unsuitable candidates joining the police service and we agree the vetting process should be tightened up to ensure the highest standards of policing and restore public trust.

“But this doesn’t mean chief constables should be given sweeping powers to dismiss officers without going through the recognised processes and mechanisms of dismissals.”

Police officer have fewer employment rights than most workers

“There is a real danger that overriding the 2020 Police Conduct Regulations to allow the vetting-based dismissal of officers will create a route through which chief constables can simply dismiss rank and file officers potentially on a whim.”

Simon said officers were entitled to expect fair and equitable treatment if they are accused of wrong-doing and also should have confidence in the disciplinary process.

Police Federation national conduct and performance co-lead Phil Jones said: “Police officers must have confidence that they have the right to fair and transparent disciplinary processes to ensure individual bias does not govern or influence decisions which have serious consequences on an individual’s career and wellbeing.

“We have requested and await the College of Policing to share the Equality Impact Assessment to ensure no group of officers are unjustifiably disadvantaged by the revised code.”