Baroness Doocey

The White Paper, ‘From local to national: a new model for policing’ sets out a range of proposals for the police workforce, including the development of a new Police Workforce Strategy.

The Police Workforce Strategy will build and support a modern, capable, and sustainable police workforce, ensuring policing has the right people, with the right skills, in the right places, at the right time. It will also enable us to consider how we might make the pay structure for policing more effective, including how policing opportunities compete with the wider employment market.

The independent Police Remuneration Review Body, Senior Salaries Review Body and National Crime Agency (NCA) Remuneration Review Body will continue to have a key role to play in advising the Government on the pay and allowances for police and NCA officers, including any changes to existing pay structures.

We look forward to seeing the final ‘Shifting the Scales of Justice’ report when it is laid in Parliament. The Government will respond in full to the report’s recommendations within 56 days, as per the Domestic Abuse Act of 2021.

With regards to data-sharing between police and immigration enforcement, we are committed to finding a solution that will encourage migrant victims and give them confidence to come forward.

Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for this Government and our manifesto included the mission to halve VAWG over the next decade.

In her statement to Parliament on 23 October on police accountability, the Home Secretary reiterated the Government’s commitment to strengthen police misconduct and vetting systems. Those who commit heinous acts such as VAWG have no place in policing and our measures will ensure that there is a statutory underpinning for national vetting standards and strengthen requirements relating to the suspension of officers under investigation for domestic abuse or sexual offences.

This Government is committed to strengthening neighbourhood policing as part of our Safer Streets Mission. This is a vital part of restoring confidence in policing, and getting thousands of officers back on the beat in our communities.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the police have the resources they need. While we expect that police officers will be used in tackling crime and protecting the public, it is for Chief Constables and directly elected PCCs, and Mayors with PCC functions to make operational decisions based on their local knowledge and experience, including how best to allocate resources.

Work is ongoing between the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to ensure a system is in place for the information transfer of protective orders from the courts to policing.

The government is also working with the NPCC to develop a Continuous Integrity System to enable relevant information on officers and staff to be captured and assessed in quick time as part of a wider integrity programme to enhance the vetting regime.