Branch secretary praises work of National Detectives' Forum

21 August 2023

West Mercia branch secretary Pete Nightingale has praised the work of the Police Federation National Detectives’ Forum (PFNDF) in gaining support in Westminster for its #SimplifyDG6 campaign.

Pete said the campaign highlighting the impact of data protection legislation on detectives was gathering momentum and encouraged members to contact their MPs over the issue.

An amendment to the Data Protection and Data Information (No 2) Bill, which seeks to adjust the Data Protection Act 2018, has been tabled by Conservative MPs Jane Hunt and Peter Aldous.

Under the proposed changes, police officers and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) would be exempt from certain data protection principles so they can share un-redacted data with each other when making charging decisions.

Pete said: “Our colleagues on the PFNDF are doing an excellent job in raising awareness of DG6 and the impact it’s having on detectives.

“Detectives are spending too much of their time and resources redacting case material before they even get to court.

“It’s having a huge impact on their work and in delivering justice for the victims of crime, and something needs to change.

“It’s great that the PFNDF has gained the support of MPs in Parliament and that they’re actively seeking to amend the law.

“It feels like the campaign is gathering momentum and I’d encourage our members to raise the issue with their MPs to keep the ball rolling.”

Ben Hudson (pictured), PFNDF chair, said there was “a glimmer of hope” now the amendments have been tabled.

Ben Hudson, PFNDF chair.

He said: “The amendment would result in cutting thousands of hours from police officer workloads and save valuable resources where we have officers spending incredulous amounts of time meticulously reviewing and redacting material, even before the CPS makes a charging decision, thereby allowing them to focus on other policing priorities and being visible within their communities.”

Labour recently proposed that it would force police to recruit detectives direct from business if it won the next General Election because of a shortage of investigators.

But Ben said the amendment to data protection legislation would help to ease some of the problems resulting from a shortage of investigators without turning to the private sector to directly recruit detectives.

He added: “Unnecessary and problematic red tape must be cut when addressing matters of public safety, and both police officers and the public await the Government to exhibit its commitment by endorsing the amendment to the Bill and see it through the due legislative process when Parliament resumes business on 4 September after the summer recess.”