Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what protections exist for police (a) officers and (b) staff who (i) raise and (ii) disclose (A) historical and (B) modern (1) concerns and (2) wrongdoing.

Serving police officers and police staff in England and Wales are given protections in law against detriment (adverse treatment), if they “blow the whistle” about wrongdoing by their forces or colleagues, providing certain conditions are met. This includes making disclosures about (A) historic or (B) recent or concurrent issues.

The protections in law include protections from reprisal or unfair dismissal. Separately, police officers are required by law to report any wrongdoing by colleagues that they witness or find out about.

There are internal whistleblowing routes available for police officers and staff in police forces and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) also has its own dedicated reporting line specifically for police officers and staff to report concerns. The Director General of the IOPC is a “prescribed body” for whistleblowing disclosures as listed in the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 2014.

In addition, the Government is exploring options to amend legislation to allow police officers to use the public complaints system where there are allegations of police-perpetrated domestic abuse.