Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministerial Statement

Police Service: HMI Report

03 November 2022 · 16 other contributors

Opened by Chris Philp Con Croydon South

Policing & ResourcesStandards & Ethics

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Chris Philp raised concerns about police service: hmi report in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.

Key points

  • Chris Philp, Minister for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Victims, made an opening statement about a troubling HM Inspectorate report.
  • The report highlighted serious issues in policing culture, including inadequate vetting procedures.
  • Since 2019, the government provided 3.5 billion in additional funding for extra police officers and broader resources.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Government Statement

Chris Philp

Chris Philp, Minister for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Victims, made an opening statement regarding the deeply troubling report published by His Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary and fire and rescue services. The report highlighted serious issues in policing culture, including inadequate vetting procedures that allowed unsuitable individuals to join or remain in police forces. Despite providing £3.5 billion additional funding since 2019 for extra police officers and broader resources, the Government recognises the need for urgent action on the report's recommendations, which include measures from national bodies such as the National Police Chiefs’ Council and chief constables themselves. The minister emphasised that the vast majority of police officers are dedicated professionals who deserve respect and support while acknowledging the disgraceful conduct undermining public trust.

Other contributors (16)
  • Sarah Jones Lab Croydon West

    Question

    Jones welcomed the minister but expressed disappointment, outlining several instances of serious failings in policing culture. She questioned the Minister about potential expediting of vetting processes and the roles of police staff who had been subject to cuts.

    Minister reply

    Minister Chris Philp thanked Jones for her remarks and stated that the Government has acted upon previous issues by commissioning this report, which aims to address ongoing problems. He highlighted additional funding provided since 2019 and reiterated the importance of national vetting standards set in 2017. The minister emphasised that misconduct procedures are governed by statute and expects recommendations for improvement to be fully implemented.

  • Peter Bottomley

    Question

    Bottomley raised concerns about restoring confidence through learning from past cases, specifically mentioning Sergeant Gurpal Virdi’s case and recommending a meeting with Home Office and Justice Ministers along with relevant stakeholders.

    Minister reply

    Chris Philp thanked Bottomley for his question and acknowledged the importance of learning from past issues to restore public trust. He offered to look further into the specific case mentioned if provided with more details and expressed willingness to meet regarding it.

  • Diana R. Johnson Lab Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham

    Question

    Welcomes the Minister's statement but raises concerns about sexism, harassment, and systemic failures within police forces, including a lack of face-to-face interviews and character references for candidates.

    Minister reply

    Acknowledges the seriousness of the issue and highlights that 35% of officers are now female with an even higher proportion among recent recruits. The training standards in the Policing Education Qualifications Framework include bias and discrimination training.

  • Rachel Maclean Con

    Question

    Raises concerns about male officers viewing pornography on suspects’ phones and engaging in 'booty patrol', and asks for a prompt government response.

    Minister reply

    Describes the actions as completely unacceptable and expects urgent action to be taken based on the 43 recommendations.

  • Andy McDonald Lab Middlesbrough and Thornaby East

    Question

    Highlights a Tory police and crime commissioner's criminal record, questioning if such individuals should be able to stand or continue in office.

    Minister reply

    Does not comment on the specific case but notes that public opinion passes judgment when people run for election.

  • Jake Berry Con

    Question

    Supports police officers who are doing a good job and keeping communities safe despite the negative report.

    Minister reply

    Agrees with his support of hard-working, brave police officers while ensuring that issues highlighted in the report are addressed urgently.

  • Wendy Chamberlain Lib Dem North East Fife

    Question

    Concerned about policing by consent and vetting processes, asks if actions will be taken to address individuals who should not be serving.

    Minister reply

    Acknowledges the need for immediate action on misconduct allegations and performance issues while supporting regular re-vetting of police officers.

  • Alun Cairns Con

    Question

    Emphasises that most police officers are honourable, hardworking, and dedicated public servants and asks for assurance on following through with recommendations.

    Minister reply

    Reiterates the need to support police officers while addressing urgent improvements based on the report's findings.

  • Tonia Antoniazzi Lab Gower

    Question

    Asks about measures to identify and take action against officers who should have failed vetting but are now working in forces.

    Minister reply

    Notes that there is a process of periodic re-vetting of serving police officers, with recommendations for more frequent checks.

  • Scott Benton Con

    Question

    Highlights the importance of learning lessons but warns against undermining public confidence in the police.

    Minister reply

    Agrees that most police are hard-working and decent, ensuring appropriate action is taken while supporting those doing good work.

  • Andrew Gwynne Ind Gorton and Denton

    Question

    Asks if the Home Office should take leadership in standards and reform rather than relying on individual police chiefs.

    Minister reply

    Acknowledges the importance of setting clear standards, supporting police chiefs, and ensuring that institutions set appropriate guidelines.

  • Ruth Cadbury Lab Brentford and Isleworth

    Question

    Raises specific cases of officers transferred without proper vetting and suitability checks, asking about measures to prevent this.

    Minister reply

    Notes the shocking case and highlights that recommendations address vetting issues, including rechecking existing cadre of officers.

  • Nick Smith Lab Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney

    Question

    This is a sad saga of Government and police management failure. Understandably, there will likely be increased vetting after this important report, so by when will all the additional 20,000 police officers promised so long ago actually be in post?

    Minister reply

    Of the extra 20,000 officers, just over 15,000 were in post by 30 September this year. The information I have been provided with in the last week—my first week in this post—is that by the end of March 2023, in four or five months’ time, all 20,000 will have been recruited as planned.

  • Clive Efford Lab Eltham and Chislehurst

    Question

    This issue starts at the very top, and we have missed many opportunities to tackle it. It was also exacerbated by the incredible decision of the Conservatives to cut 21,000 police officers. Now we have a mad dash to try to backfill those gaps in the service. Can the Minister assure us that no lax vetting has been involved in filling those gaps, and what will he do to go back and re-vet those officers to ensure that they are of the highest standard?

    Minister reply

    The report made it clear that there have been problems with vetting—that is one of its key and troubling findings. There is a programme of automatic re-vetting of officers on a periodic basis, and one of the report’s recommendations is that that should be done more frequently, for the reasons the hon. Gentleman sets out. More broadly, officer numbers did go down shortly after 2010, owing to the catastrophic economic circumstances at the time, but they are now going up rapidly and by March of next year, as I said a second ago, we will have a record number of police officers—at no point in this country’s history have we had more officers on the books than we will have by March next year. In fact, my understanding is that in the force area covering his constituency and mine there are already a record number of Metropolitan police officers. Never in the Met’s history have there been more police officers on its books than there are today.

  • Jim Shannon DUP Strangford

    Question

    I thank the Minister for his response to the questions that have been asked. I also want to put on the record my thanks to the many police officers who are above reproach and do a wonderful and very courageous job; it is important to say that before asking questions. It is disturbing to learn in this report that petty theft or assault charges were either ignored or not found out in the vetting procedure, which tells us just how broken the system is. What has been done to fix that and to ensure that the past record of people of both genders is known, decisions are made in the best interests of the force and every action is taken to restore the general public’s confidence and trust? That is really important.

    Minister reply

    I thank the hon. Member for his question, and I agree with his comments at the beginning. We should keep in mind in this debate, both in the House and publicly, that the vast majority of police officers are decent, hard-working and brave people putting their own safety at risk to keep us safe; we should never lose sight of that fact. I share his concern about the vetting issues that we have discussed, and there are recommendations to improve those. Where applicants have served a custodial sentence or signed the sex offenders register, there is currently an absolute prohibition on them being recruited as police officers, and where they have a criminal conviction of any kind, there is a presumption against their recruitment. That is a rebuttable presumption, so they can make representations, but the presumption is that they will not be hired. Clearly, we need to ensure that that information is always known and always considered, and there are recommendations in yesterday’s report to ensure that that happens.

Shadow Comment

Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones, shadow Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice, welcomed the minister to his position but expressed disappointment in the Government's lack of leadership following the report. She highlighted a series of previous instances where serious failings were exposed, suggesting that if action had been taken earlier, harm could have been prevented. Jones criticised failures in vetting processes and misconduct systems and called for mandatory safeguards and professional standards across all police forces to ensure everyone’s safety.

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