Policing review calls for root and branch reform

9 March 2022

A long-awaited review into policing in England and Wales has been given a cautious welcome by the Police Federation’s Welsh lead.

The Strategic Review of Policing calls for root and branch reform and warns that failure to improve and modernise the service could lead to the collapse of public trust and confidence.

It lists 56 recommendations to bring wholesale change across key areas such as skills and training, organisation and the relationship between police and public to modernise the service from top to bottom.

The report calls for the creation of a new Crime Prevention Agency, expansion of the National Crime Agency to create a British FBI, the merger of back office functions across the 43 forces that would save hundreds of millions of pounds and renewed investment in frontline policing, training and technology.

But the review also calls for the introduction of a new licence to practise for all police officers that is renewed every five years and subject to strict conditions, something the Police Federation has long opposed.

Police Federation Welsh lead Nicky Ryan said: “This report makes interesting reading an many of its recommendations would be backed by the vast majority of our members.

“And I think it is fair to say the Police Federation has already made a lot of the same recommendations based on its own research and surveys.

“We know that policing is going through a turbulent time with big questions hanging over funding, training, recruitment, organisation and its strained relationships with the Government, the media and the public.

“These are important issues that can’t just be swept under the carpet and ignored - the report is absolutely spot on when it calls for urgent action.”

But Nicky said there were aspects of the review to which the Police Federation was fundamentally opposed.

“We have always been against the introduction of a licence to practise and thing the idea is fraught with danger,” she said.

“Our members carry a warrant card and make an oath when they begin their policing career and they should be able to undertake that oath without fear of reprisal every five years.

“At first sight, this recommendation appears to be unnecessary and will do little to assist with recruitment and retention in the police service.”

Launching the final report of the review, which was carried out by the Police Foundation think tank, chairman Sir Michael Barber said: “There is a crisis of confidence in policing in this country which is corroding public trust. 

“The reasons are deep rooted and complex – some cultural and others systemic. However taken together, unless there is urgent change, they will end up destroying the principle of policing by consent that has been at the heart of British policing for decades.

 “Policing in this country is at a crossroads and it cannot stand still whilst the world changes so quickly around it. 

“Now is the moment to move forward quickly on the path of reform. The warning signs if we do nothing are flashing red and we ignore them at our peril.”

Read the report.