The Independent Police Complaints Commission

The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL HC 135 Sessio 27-28 14 November 28

The Natioal Audit Office scrutiises public spedig o behalf of Parliamet. The Comptroller ad Auditor Geeral, Tim Burr, is a Officer of the House of Commos. He is the head of the Natioal Audit Office which employs some 85 staff. He ad the Natioal Audit Office are totally idepedet of Govermet. He certifies the accouts of all Govermet departmets ad a wide rage of other public sector bodies; ad he has statutory authority to report to Parliamet o the ecoomy, efficiecy ad effectiveess with which departmets ad other bodies have used their resources. Our work saves the taxpayer millios of pouds every year: at least 9 for every 1 spet ruig the Office.

Desig ad Productio by NAO Marketig & Commuicatios Team DP Ref: 8715 This report has bee prited o Cosort Royal Silk ad is produced from a combiatio of ECF (Elemetal Chlorie Free) ad TCF (Totally Chlorie Free) wood pulp that is fully recyclable ad sourced from carefully maaged ad reewed commercial forests. The rage is maufactured withi a mill which is registered uder the BS EN ISO 91 accreditatio, which provides the highest stadard of quality assurace.

Published by TSO (The Statioery Office) ad available from: Olie www.tso.co.uk/bookshop Mail, Telephoe, Fax & E-mail TSO PO Box 29, Norwich, NR3 1GN Telephoe orders/geeral equiries: 87 6 5522 Order through the Parliametary Hotlie Lo-call 845 7 23474 Fax orders: 87 6 5533 E-mail: customer.services@tso.co.uk Textphoe 87 24 371 TSO Shops 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GD 28 923 8451 Fax 28 923 541 71 Lothia Road, Ediburgh EH3 9AZ 87 66 5566 Fax 87 66 5588 The Parliametary Bookshop 12 Bridge Street, Parliamet Square, Lodo SW1A 2JX Telephoe orders/geeral equiries 2 7219 389 Fax Orders 2 7219 3866 Email bookshop@parliamet.uk Iteret bookshop.parliamet.uk 14.35 ISBN 978--1-295437-1 TSO@Blackwell ad other Accredited Agets 9 7812 954371 The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio A report by the Comptroller ad Auditor Geeral The Statioery Office

The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio LONDON: The Statioery Office 14.35 Ordered by the House of Commos to be prited o 12 November 28 REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL HC 135 Sessio 27-28 14 November 28

This report has bee prepared uder Sectio 6 of the Natioal Audit Act 1983 for presetatio to the House of Commos i accordace with Sectio 9 of the Act. Tim Burr Comptroller ad Auditor Geeral Natioal Audit Office 7 November 28 The Natioal Audit Office study team cosisted of: Jo Cable, Sea Clayto, Mark Parrett ad Rebecca Sidell Dawso, uder the directio of Richard Eales This report ca be foud o the Natioal Audit Office web site at www.ao.org.uk For further iformatio about the Natioal Audit Office please cotact: Natioal Audit Office Press Office 157-197 Buckigham Palace Road Victoria Lodo SW1W 9SP Tel: 2 7798 74 Email: equiries@ao.gsi.gov.uk Natioal Audit Office 28

cotets summary 4 Part ONE The IPCC s performace i maagig 1 its workload Part TWO The IPCC s quality cotrol procedures 24 Part THREE The outcome of the IPCC s work ad its 29 commuicatios with affected parties ad stakeholders Appedices 1 Study Methodology 35 2 The IPCC s key performace 38 idicators aalysed by regio Photographs courtesy of the Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio

SuMMARy Ratioale for ad scope of the NAO examiatio 1 The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio (IPCC), which operates i Eglad ad Wales oly, became operatioal i April 24 uder the Police Reform Act (22), succeedig the former Police Complaits Authority. The IPCC has resposibility for the performace of the whole police complaits system. Its remit is to ivestigate complaits ad coduct matters ivolvig police officers; ad to recommed appropriate actio by the police force cocered ad, where appropriate, to forward iformatio to the Crow Prosecutio Service for a decisio o prosecutio. Its remit does ot iclude determiig discipliary actio by idividual forces or brigig prosecutios itself. The IPCC becomes ivolved followig a direct complait from a member of the public or as a result of a referral by the police. Some icidets ivolvig death or serious ijury are required by statute to be referred to the IPCC. 2 Sice 24, the remit of the IPCC has bee expaded to iclude the ivestigatio of serious allegatios agaist officers of HM Reveue & Customs, the Serious Orgaised Crime Agecy ad the UK Border Agecy. This report focuses o the IPCC s ivestigatio of complaits agaist the police. 4 THE INDEPENDENT POLICE COMPLAINTS COMMISSION

summary 3 The IPCC is oversee by a Board of 12 Commissioers appoited by the Home Secretary ad had just uder 4 staff as at 31 March 28. The IPCC s et resource expediture i 27-8 was 32.2 millio of which 3.1 millio was fiaced by Grat-i-Aid from the Home Office. 4 Nearly 29, complaits were made agaist the police i 27-8. The majority of these complaits were dealt with locally by the relevat police force ad did ot ivolve the IPCC. I 27-8, the IPCC: opeed 1 idepedet ivestigatios, which were the most serious cases udertake solely by IPCC ivestigators; opeed 152 maaged ivestigatios usig local police force staff uder IPCC cotrol; opeed 245 supervised ivestigatios ru by local police forces; ad received 4,141 appeals. Appeals ca be agaist a complait ot beig recorded by the police; agaist a complait beig dealt with by local resolutio by the police force cocered; or agaist the outcome of a ivestigatio of a complait by the police. Complaiats do ot have the right of appeal to the IPCC i respect of a idepedet ivestigatio udertake by the IPCC or agaist ivestigatios maaged by the IPCC. I such cases a complaiat would eed to seek a Judicial Review if they were uhappy about the way their case had bee hadled by the IPCC. 5 Give that the IPCC has had four years i which to establish its systems ad procedures, it is a good time to assess whether the IPCC has met its objectives. This report therefore examies whether the IPCC: is maagig its workload of complaits, referrals ad appeals efficietly (Part 1); has i place appropriate mechaisms for esurig the quality of its work (Part 2); is followig up ivestigatios appropriately; ad is commuicatig effectively with complaiats, police officers uder ivestigatio ad stakeholders (Part 3). It was ot withi the ambit of this examiatio to assess the outcome of specific IPCC ivestigatios. The report does ot therefore commet o whether or ot the decisios made by the IPCC i idividual cases are appropriate. 6 The methodology for this study icludes iterviews with key officials withi the IPCC, with key stakeholders icludig police ad complaiat represetative groups, ad with Professioal Stadards Departmets from five police forces. We reviewed a sample of idepedet ad maaged ivestigatios ad appeals at each of the IPCC s regios. Appedix 1 provides more detail about our study methodology. Mai fidigs O the IPCC s workload ad performace agaist targets 7 The IPCC s workload has icreased sigificatly sice 24-5. The IPCC opeed 1 idepedet ivestigatios i 27-8 compared to 31 i 24-5 ad hadled over 4,1 appeals i 27-8 compared to just over 1, i 24-5. The umber of idepedet ivestigatios has icreased i part because of the impact of Huma Rights case law, which has expaded the rage of ivestigatios where the IPCC is legally obliged to coduct a idepedet ivestigatio. 8 The balace of the IPCC s ivestigatio activities has also sice its iceptio shifted from maaged ivestigatios to idepedet ivestigatios. As a result of the icrease i the umber of idepedet ivestigatios the IPCC cosiders that it is ow workig above full capacity, sice i 27-8 the IPCC bega 1 idepedet ivestigatios as compared to a plaed figure of 5 idepedet ivestigatios. To help address its icreasig workload the IPCC approved a Busiess Chage Programme i 28, buildig o a project iitiated i 27. The Busiess Chage Programme is desiged to icrease the IPCC s productivity ad flexibility ad realise efficiecy savigs. The Programme icludes a review of IPCC s estates, icludig the eed for a cetral Lodo base, ad local complaits hadlig systems. 9 The IPCC also udertook a stock-take of the wider police complaits system i 27-8, to assess how the complaits system operates ad to idetify improvemets to the system. The IPCC published its iterim fidigs ad proposals i Jue 28 ad, subject to the outcome of a public cosultatio, aims to implemet these chages from late 28 owards. The proposals iclude broadeig the defiitio of a complait agaist the police to iclude issues of public cocer ad poor service delivery by police forces as well as idividual police coduct. The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio 5

summary 1 The IPCC completed 82 idepedet ivestigatios i 27-8, which exactly met its target. I 27-8, for the first time, the IPCC also met its target of completig 5 per cet of ivestigatios withi 157 workig days. However, because of the rise i workload, the umber of idepedet ivestigatios ope at the year ed rose from 57 at the ed of 26-7 to 75 at the ed of 27-8. Delays i processig cases are largely due to factors outside the IPCC s direct cotrol. They iclude cases becomig sub judice because of a court case beig uderway, delays i receivig iformatio from pathologists, coroers ad the Crow Prosecutio Service, ad delays i beig able to obtai witess statemets from police officers uder ivestigatio. A miority of cases (16 per cet of our sample of idepedet ivestigatios) ecoutered sigificat delays because of problems withi the IPCC, primarily as a result of staff chages o ivestigatios. 11 The IPCC udertakes ivestigatios, kow as maaged ivestigatios, which are dealt with by local police forces o its behalf but which are uder the IPCC s overall cotrol. I 27-8, oly 39 per cet of cases were completed withi 157 workig days compared to the IPCC s target of 5 per cet. 12 The IPCC also supervises cases which are udertake etirely by local police forces (supervised ivestigatios). There is a strog cosesus betwee the IPCC ad the police forces we spoke to that supervised ivestigatios are ot a effective way of hadlig complaits. These cases add to the workload of both the IPCC ad the ivestigatig police force without improvig the quality of the ivestigatio from that of a local-level ivestigatio. Cosequetly, the IPCC has reduced the umber of supervised ivestigatios from 562 opeed i 25-6 to 245 opeed i 27-8. 13 The IPCC has a target to process 8 per cet of the ivestigatio appeals it receives withi 25 workig days. Oly the North regio of the IPCC s four regios achieved this target i 27-8, although the Cetral regio came close to doig so. The Lodo & South-East regio dealt with oly 27 per cet of appeals withi the target. Durig the year, as part of its strategy to maage capacity issues, the IPCC trasferred some of the appeals received by the Lodo & South East regio to the Cetral ad North regios which had some resource capacity to absorb additioal appeals ad ivestigatios, thereby improvig overall performace to 51 per cet by the year ed, but still below the 8 per cet target. 14 Performace agaist key targets varies sigificatly betwee the IPCC s four regios, as does demad for IPCC services. The resource model used for the Lodo & South-East regio at set-up has proved iadequate, resultig i poorer performace for the average duratio of appeals ad idepedet ivestigatios. The regio has also received more appeals ad started more idepedet ad maaged ivestigatios tha ay other regio. This sustaied demad combied with staff recruitmet ad retetio challeges has led to a backlog of outstadig work i the Lodo & South-East regio, which, as oted above, IPCC maagemet has addressed by re-directig a proportio of appeals cases to other regios. This course of actio is more difficult to take for ivestigatios, which rely o ivestigators maitaiig geographical proximity to the icidet ad the police force ivolved but, where possible, the IPCC has moved some ivestigators temporarily to help out or trasferred some ivestigatios to other regios. O the IPCC s quality cotrol procedures ad idepedece 15 Esurig the quality of ivestigatios is crucially importat. We foud that, while the IPCC has produced a coheret writte maual ad case trackig maagemet system for its casework staff who maage the admiistrative elemets of ivestigatios ad hadle appeals, there is a less developed maual for ivestigator staff who are resposible for coductig idepedet ivestigatios. This positio reflects the situatio i 24 whe there was a greater eed for caseworker guidace tha guidace for ivestigators, who brought with them relevat skills ad experiece from previous roles. Developig a sigle operatios maual settig out best practice ad roles ad resposibilities for the casework, ivestigatio ad Commissioer fuctios is a IPCC objective for 28-9. Ivestigators udergo accredited traiig made up of a six week full-time course, whereas such traiig for casework staff started oly i April 28 ad the IPCC does ot expect that all casework staff will have completed the traiig util March 21. Ivestigator traiig is beig re-lauched i 28-9 to esure that it is tailored to the eeds ad previous experiece of ew ivestigators. 16 Sice it was set up, the IPCC s ivestigatios have bee oversee by Commissioers who have idividual accoutability for ivestigatios. We examied a sample of cases at the IPCC s four regioal offices ad foud that, cotrary to procedures, there was o auditable record of Commissioer sig-off for 25 per cet of applicable ivestigatio reports. 6 The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio

summary 17 Our examiatio also foud that may cases were ot subject to the formal o-goig quality cotrol review that the IPCC itself has laid dow. The IPCC s ow statistics show that a required self-assessmet of the progress of a ivestigatio took place i oly 55 of the 1 idepedet ivestigatios started i 27 8. This low retur rate may be partly explaied by the extreme legth of the self-assessmet form. Oly 19 of the 1 cases were the subject to the required review by the IPCC s seior ivestigator assiged to review cases. The seior ivestigator has ow bee reassiged to ivestigatios because of the workload demads upo the IPCC, with the review fuctio re-allocated to several ivestigative staff o a part-time basis. From mid-28 owards, Regioal Directors have bee resposible for recommedig whether a iteral review should take place ad, if ot, explaiig to the IPCC s Quality Assurace Pael why a iteral review is iappropriate. 18 The IPCC does ot have ay formal procedure for review of cases oce they have bee completed, although it is ow pilotig such reviews i its Cetral regio. 19 The IPCC does ot routiely submit ay of its ivestigative work to ay form of exteral scrutiy. The IPCC recogises the potetial beefits of exteral scrutiy but believes that it is difficult to fid appropriate, impartial expertise to udertake such work. The IPCC also cosiders that its Commissioers, who are appoited by the Home Secretary, have a key role i overseeig ad scrutiisig the IPCC s work. 2 The level of successful legal challeges to IPCC decisios is low. The IPCC has ot yet lost a case i relatio to the substative cotet of ivestigatio reports. The ie cases it has lost or coceded to date have bee because the IPCC accepted that casework maagers had made errors i hadlig appeals, dispesatios or discotiuaces, or the IPCC had made ujustifiable decisios o the disclosure of evidece gathered i the course of a idepedet ivestigatio. 21 We assessed the IPCC s level of idepedece usig criteria developed by the Iteratioal Orgaisatio of Supreme Audit Istitutios. While the IPCC is ot a audit body, the criteria ca be usefully adapted to assess the IPCC s perceived idepedece from govermet ad the police. Our assessmet showed that the IPCC scores well o most of the criteria of idepedece. O the outcomes of the IPCC s work ad whether it is commuicatig effectively with complaiats, police officers ad stakeholders 22 The IPCC was set up to brig idepedet oversight to the police complaits system ad to improve system access ad trasparecy. Sice it was established there has bee a big icrease i the umber of recorded complaits, suggestig that the IPCC has made progress i icreasig access to the police complaits system ad improvig the trasparecy of the system. 23 Over 6 per cet of the idepedet ivestigatios that we examied i our sample led to the IPCC recommedig that further actio should be take. Recommedatios icluded geeral lessos for the police force ivolved ad actio affectig idividual police officers, ragig from iformal words of advice to crimial charges. 24 The IPCC is resposible for esurig that its recommedatios are accepted or rejected by police forces, but recogises that o sigle orgaisatio has resposibility for moitorig that recommedatios are implemeted by police forces. The IPCC accepts that this is a weakess ad is willig to work with the Associatio of Police Authorities ad HM Ispectorate of Costabulary to idetify suitable moitorig arragemets. We foud that differet regios were adoptig widely varyig approaches to trackig the acceptace of recommedatios. I the North ad Cetral regios, all recommedatios ad acceptace or rejectio were cetrally recorded whereas i the Lodo & South-East ad Wales & South-West regios, there was o such cetral moitorig. 25 The IPCC also has a remit to idetify ad dissemiate wider lessos arisig from its work. I 27 the IPCC started to issue Learig the Lessos bulletis that provide summaries of process failigs ad best practice. These bulletis have bee widely welcomed by the police. The IPCC also dissemiates learig through i-depth research studies, which have also bee well received. 26 A key requiremet of ay complaits orgaisatio is to esure that it keeps complaiats ad those beig ivestigated up to date with progress. The statutory guidace states that complaiats should be updated every 28 days, ad police officers iformed at appropriate poits i the ivestigatio. We foud from our sample of cases that the IPCC is good at keepig complaiats up to date through formal updates, with regular writte cotact beig maitaied i 92 per cet of applicable cases. The IPCC provided police officers uder ivestigatio with regular writte cotact i 69 per cet of applicable cases, ad also made use of the process of cotactig officers through their home force. The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio 7

summary 27 The IPCC has udertake surveys of the public which show a high level of cofidece i the impartiality of the complaits process but to date the IPCC has ot sought feedback from complaiats, police officers or appellats o how the IPCC has hadled their case, although the IPCC plas to coduct surveys of this ature i 28-9. 28 The IPCC egages with stakeholders at atioal, regioal ad local levels o orgaisatioal ad case specific issues. It also has a Advisory Board which meets quarterly ad icludes police represetative groups ad orgaisatios represetig complaiats. Out of the 15 member orgaisatios, all but two represet govermet, police or staff iterests. Part of the challege i dealig with o-police orgaisatios is the lack of a sigle over-archig group to represet complaiat iterests. The Advisory Board is the mai forum for stakeholders to provide feedback to IPCC Commissioers ad seior maagers o how the IPCC is performig. We foud that geerally the police groups were cotet with the way the Advisory Board was operatig ad were supportive of the IPCC s aims ad its overall effectiveess i hadlig complaits, although they had cocers about the time take by the IPCC to deal with some cases. The complaiat groups were less cotet with the Advisory Board, ad questioed its usefuless. Overall coclusio o value for moey 29 The IPCC has bee i existece for four years after takig over from the Police Complaits Authority, ad has made sigificat progress i overcomig the atipathy with which its predecessor orgaisatio was viewed. At a time whe its resources are stretched because its workload is icreasig, the IPCC has icreased its efficiecy i dealig with cases ad has improved its performace agaist targets for maagig a icreasig workload, although there are variatios betwee regios ad work streams. It has also embarked o a stock-take of the police complaits system ad a Busiess Chage Programme to improve the IPCC s efficiecy ad effectiveess further. 3 It is difficult to obtai full assurace about the quality of the IPCC s work because the IPCC s quality cotrol procedures are uderdeveloped ad icosistetly applied, ad there is o effective exteral scrutiy of the IPCC s ivestigative work. Quality cotrol reform is oe of the IPCC s objectives i its Busiess Pla for 28-9. 31 As regards the outcomes from its work, the IPCC has made sigificat strides i dissemiatig wider lessos for the police, which have bee well received. It does ot do eough, however, to satisfy itself that the recommedatios it makes o idividual ivestigatios are acted upo ad implemeted. Nor does it survey complaiats, police officers ad appellats to gai feedback o its impartiality ad effectiveess. I these respects, value for moey remais to be demostrated. 8 The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio

summary Recommedatios 32 Agaist the above backgroud, we make the followig recommedatios. i ii iii iv v Supervised ivestigatios are ot a effective use of IPCC resources, sice they add to the IPCC s workload without allowig the IPCC ay direct role i the way the ivestigatio is maaged by the police. I the light of the outcome of its stock-take of the police complaits system ad i cojuctio with the Home Office, the IPCC should decide whether this category of ivestigatio should be retaied. The IPCC is facig a icreasig workload at a time whe its fudig is beig reduced i real terms. As part of its Busiess Chage Programme, the IPCC should cotiue to ivestigate the possibility of relocatig its head office from Cetral Lodo. The IPCC is ot yet providig full guidace ad traiig for its staff, although ew starters are give iductio guidace, o-the-job traiig ad supervisio. The IPCC should develop a comprehesive maual for ivestigators; ad update guidace o the role of Commissioers. Accredited traiig should be provided for all caseworkers o a accelerated basis. The IPCC s Commissioers are ultimately accoutable for the quality ad timeliess of a ivestigatio but we foud a umber of examples where there was o auditable record that a Commissioer had reviewed ad approved a ivestigatio report. Commissioers should provide writte evidece to cofirm that they have reviewed ad agreed the coclusios ad recommedatios of the seior ivestigator s report. The IPCC s iteral review fuctio is ot operatig as iteded. The IPCC should streamlie its self assessmet process to focus o the key aspects of the ivestigatio that eed to be reviewed. Seior ivestigators should complete self-ispectio assessmets for all idepedet ivestigatios at least oce durig the duratio of a ivestigatio. Each self-ispectio should be reviewed by a resposible perso i the IPCC, who is idepedet of the ivestigatig team resposible for the case. vi vii viii ix x There is curretly o formal review of cases after they have bee completed. The IPCC should istitute a system of post-ivestigatio reviews of idepedet ivestigatios, to iclude reviewig the role of the Casework Maager ad ivestigators. The IPCC s ivestigative work is ot curretly subject to ay exteral scrutiy. The IPCC should explore how to itroduce a system of exteral review of its cases, for example, by egagig a suitable orgaisatio or orgaisatios to udertake a quality review of a sample of its ivestigatios ad appeals. Possible orgaisatios might iclude other UK police complaits hadlig, audit or ivestigatory bodies. There is sigificat icosistecy across IPCC regios i the way recommedatios arisig from ivestigatios are beig followed up. The IPCC should agree ad stadardise the moitorig of police forces ackowledgemet ad acceptace of recommedatios i all its regios. No oe orgaisatio has resposibility for moitorig the implemetatio of recommedatios by police forces. The IPCC should develop suitable arragemets to satisfy itself that IPCC recommedatios accepted by a police force have bee properly implemeted. The IPCC s lack of research ito the experieces of complaiats ad affected members of police forces is a weakess. The IPCC should udertake regular satisfactio surveys to obtai feedback ad idetify actios that eed to be take to improve cliet satisfactio with the way the IPCC does its work. The IPCC should also review ad agree the format ad frequecy of updates for complaiats ad affected police officers for idepedet ivestigatios, maaged ivestigatios ad appeals. The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio 9

Part Oe The IPCC s performace i maagig its workload 1.1 This part of the report cosiders how well the IPCC is copig with its workload ad assesses its performace agaist its key performace idicators. 1.2 The IPCC was established uder the Police Reform Act 22 ad became operatioal from 1 April 24. It is a No-Departmetal Public Body sposored by the Home Office. The cost of ruig the IPCC icreased i its first four years as the orgaisatio developed its staffig ad expaded its rage of activities, but the rate of icrease has ow slowed (Figure 1) ad budgeted fudig for 28 9 has levelled off. The Home Office allocated grat-i-aid of 31.7 millio for 27-8 which has remaied at the same level for 28-9. Sice April 27, the IPCC has idetified as a high risk the probability that it will ot be able to meet its obligatios to carry out idepedet ivestigatios where legally required uder its preset fudig settlemet. To mitigate this risk ad to meet its legal requiremets, the IPCC has redeployed some ivestigator staff betwee regios ad re-allocated some staff from its support fuctios, such as iteral review. The IPCC has also asked the Home Office for additioal fudig ad commeced a Busiess Chage Programme which aims to deliver improved efficiecies. The IPCC Board of Commissioers 1.3 The IPCC is ru by a Chief Executive ad ie Directors ad is oversee by a Board of Commissioers, of whom there are 15. The Commissioers have a executive role ad are idividually accoutable for the ivestigatio of complaits. The Home Secretary is resposible for appoitig the IPCC s Chair ad Commissioers (o a three to five year cotract) ad may dismiss Commissioers durig their cotracts i the evet of gross miscoduct. The Chief Executive is appoited by the Commissio ad is accoutable for the IPCC s use of resources. 1.4 Sice it was set up, the IPCC s ivestigatio work has bee oversee by Commissioers, who are appoited by the Home Secretary ad have idividual accoutability for the ivestigatios of specific police forces. The Police Reform Act 22 desigated Commissioers as the guardias of the IPCC s idepedece ad the key decisio-makers i the IPCC s activities. Each Commissioer is resposible for a specific trache of police forces (primarily desigated by geographic area) ad is ultimately resposible for providig oversight of all ivestigatio reports ad the choice of method used to ivestigate a complait, idepedet of ay exteral body or idividual. By law, o Commissioer ca have served as a police officer. 1.5 The IPCC Chair ad the Home Office cosidered that such a large umber of Commissioers precluded the Commissio from actig as a team. The quasi-executive ature of the Commissioer role has also ihibited Commissioers from maitaiig impartial oversight of IPCC maagemet i a traditioal o-executive role. To address these issues, the Home Secretary, o the advice of the IPCC Chair, reduced the umber of Commissioers 1 Net expediture sice iceptio ( m) 4 3 2 1 Source: IPCC The IPCC s et expediture sice it was established i April 24 24-5 25-6 26-7 27-8 Fiacial year 1 The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio

part oe due to serve from July 28 from 15 to 12, to iclude two part-time o-executive Commissioers who will ot have operatioal resposibilities for overseeig ivestigatios. 1 Followig a recet selectio process, seve operatioal Commissioers have bee re-appoited ad two Deputy Chairme have bee appoited, all for terms of three to five years. Exteral recruitmet for the remaiig operatioal Commissioer ad the two part-time No Executive Commissioer posts is curretly uderway. 1.6 As a result of these chages to the Commissio, each executive Commissioer will have a greater umber of police forces i their portfolio. To eable Commissioers to maage this icreased workload, fial resposibility for decidig o the method of ivestigatio for complaits ad referrals will rest with the Regioal Director rather tha the Commissioer. Commissioers backgrouds prior to beig appoited to the IPCC iclude the volutary ad charity sector, commuity relatios, cetral ad local govermet, ad legal services. The statutory role of the Commissioers requires them to fulfil both operatioal ad o-executive fuctios which ca make for complex reportig ad accoutability. Staffig levels 1.7 The two mai cadres of staff ivolved i ivestigatio work are ivestigators ad casework maagers (Box 1). 1.8 Figure 2 sets out the various reportig lies for key staff i the IPCC. BOX 1 IPCC Ivestigators ad Casework Maagers IPCC Ivestigators: Ivestigators are resposible for coductig idepedet ivestigatios, both draftig the ivestigatio s terms of referece for approval by the Commissioer ad collectig ad aalysig all relevat evidece. The seior ivestigatig officer sigs off the fial ivestigatio report with the relevat Commissioer. Ivestigators are also resposible for maitaiig directio ad cotrol of maaged ivestigatios (coducted by the local police force) ad, with the Commissioer, sigig off the fial report. Ivestigators are split ito three grades: Ivestigators, Deputy Seior Ivestigators ad Seior Ivestigators. IPCC Casework Maagers: Casework Maagers have two distict roles. A Casework Maager is resposible for maitaiig most of the admiistrative side of idepedet ad maaged ivestigatios. Key roles iclude updatig ay complaiat or affected police officer of the ivestigatio s progress ad respodig to queries raised by iterested parties. For supervised ivestigatios, Casework Maagers are resposible for approvig the terms of referece ad cofirmig that these have bee met by the police ivestigatio at the coclusio of the ivestigatio. Casework Maagers also have a executive role for some types of IPCC activity. They are resposible for issuig a iitial opiio o the appropriate mode of ivestigatio for ay referral or complait received by the IPCC, to be cofirmed by the Regioal Director. A Casework Maager is usually the sole arbiter of appeals received by the IPCC (subject to review by seior staff for a sampled miority of cases). Casework Maagers are maaged by Seior Casework Maagers (who maitai a portfolio of appeals ad ivestigatios i some regios). Source: Natioal Audit Office 2 IPCC key staff categories ad reportig lies Chair ad Commissioers Chief Executive Regioal Directors Executive Directors Seior Ivestigator Head of Casework Deputy Seior Ivestigator Seior Casework Maager Ivestigator Casework Maager Support Staff Source: IPCC 1 The three remaiig Commissioers are beig paid util the ed of their cotracts; oe util 31 December 28 ad two util 31 March 29. The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio 11

part oe 1.9 IPCC staffig umbers have ow stabilised at a level of approximately 4 full-time equivalet staff, compared to a budgeted staff establishmet of 418 full time equivalet staff. The IPCC has foud it difficult to recruit ad retai its budgeted establishmet of caseworker maagers i its Lodo & South-East regio, based i cetral Lodo, ad cosiders its iitial resource model to have uderestimated the amout ad proportio of staff required for this regio. The Lodo & South-East office has also had to cope with a comparatively high volume of appeals compared to other regioal offices ad its timeliess i processig appeals has suffered as a result. The average umber of staff i post i the year to 31 March 28 was 398. A breakdow of these staff is i Figure 3. 3 IPCC staff umbers 27-8 95 41 139 The IPCC regioal structure 1.1 The IPCC splits its activities ito four regios ad five offices (Figure 4). With effect from July 28, the IPCC chaged its regioal boudaries to re-balace more fairly demads across the orgaisatio. Each Commissioer oversees a specific set of police forces liked to a particular regio, i additio to specialist o geographical forces. 1.11 The IPCC s head office is located i cetral Lodo. The premises were procured o a 15-year lease by the Home Office i the build-up to the IPCC startig operatios i April 24. The IPCC is cocered about the value for moey delivered by this lease, as a large umber of staff are housed i comparatively high-cost premises without a compellig busiess eed for the IPCC to maitai offices for these staff i cetral Lodo. The IPCC is begiig to address optios for future premises ad remote workig through its Busiess Chage Programme, approved i 28, ad has ot committed itself to keepig a head office i cetral Lodo followig the break optio i its head office lease i 213. Sice 26, the IPCC has also defrayed some accommodatio costs by sub-lettig part of its head office to the Security Idustry Authority, receivig some 6, aually i ret, compared to total IPCC retal expediture of aroud 2.8 millio i 27-8. 123 Seior Maagemet (icludig Commissioers) Casework maagemet staff Ivestigators Specialist, admiistrative ad support staff Source: IPCC The IPCC remit 1.12 Ulike its predecessor, the Police Complaits Authority, the IPCC was give powers to perform ivestigatios for the most serious categories of complaits, i additio to overseeig police ivestigatios of less serious categories of complaits ad adjudicatig appeals agaist local police ivestigatios (Box 2). The IPCC s mai objective is to improve cofidece i the police complaits system. This objective forms part of the framework of police accoutability, as part of a wider govermet aim to icrease public cofidece i the police, at a time whe police powers have icreased. 12 The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio

part oe 4 Map of IPCC regios ad offices North East ad Yorkshire Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio Evergree House Uit C, Cedar Court Office Park Deby Dale Road Calder Grove Wakefield WF4 3DB Fax: 1619 695 659 North West Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio 1st Floor, Oaklads House Washway Road Sale M33 6FS Fax: 1619 695 659 Cetral ad Easter Eglad Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio Idepedet House Whitwick Busiess Park Steso Road Coalville LE67 4JP Fax: 153 51 718 Wales ad South West Eglad Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio Uit 2, Easter Busiess Park Wer Fawr Lae St Mellos Cardiff CF3 5EA Fax: 292 361 967 Lodo ad South East Eglad Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio 9 High Holbor Lodo WC1V 6BH Fax: 2 7242 4695 Source: IPCC box 2 The IPCC s remit Uder the Police Reform Act (22) ad related statutory guidace, the IPCC s remit icludes the followig fuctios: Makig Mode of Ivestigatio decisios o the referrals ad complaits it receives; Coductig idepedet ivestigatios for the most serious icidets ad allegatios; Overseeig maaged ad supervised ivestigatios coducted by the local police force; Settig, improvig, reviewig, moitorig ad ispectig stadards for the operatio of the police complaits system; Promotig cofidece i the complaits system as a whole amogst the geeral public ad atioal ad regioal stakeholders; Esurig the accessibility of the police complaits system; ad Promotig policig excellece by drawig out ad feedig back lessos arisig from the IPCC s work. Decidig o appeals it receives agaist the o-recordig of complaits ad the way local police ivestigatios ad the local resolutio of complaits have bee udertake; Source: Police Reform Act (22) ad IPCC The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio 13

part oe 1.13 Box 3 outlies the mai types of ivestigatios ad activities udertake by the IPCC. 1.14 Complaiats ca access the IPCC s services by submittig a complait agaist police coduct or a appeal agaist the local resolutio, local ivestigatio or o-recordig of a complait by the local police force to the IPCC (Figure 5). Direct complaits are forwarded to the relevat force to determie whether the complait should be recorded ad, if so, what actio should be take. The IPCC will make a Mode of Ivestigatio decisio o whether to process a direct complait itself or to refer it back to the local police force for iteral ivestigatio, based o the apparet seriousess of the complait. By cotrast, all appeals are processed by the IPCC itself. I 27-8, the average time take to resolve a idepedet ivestigatio was 172 workig days (197 days for maaged ivestigatios) while the average time take to resolve a appeal was 38 workig days. The IPCC s workload 1.15 The IPCC s work is largely demad-led. Sice it was set up i April 24 the IPCC s workload has icreased sigificatly as has its efficiecy i dealig with cases. While the average umber of staff i post icreased by 91 per cet from 28 i 24-5 to 398 i 27-8, the umber of idepedet ivestigatios it has begu has icreased more tha three fold from 31 i 24-5 to 1 i 27-8 (Figure 6) ad the umber it has closed i a year has icreased from eight i 24-5 to 82 i 27 8. Although the umber of maaged ivestigatios dropped slightly from 176 i 26-7 to 152 i 27-8 (Figure 7) the umber of appeals the IPCC received has also icreased three fold from 1,33 i 24 5 to 4,141 i 27-8 (Figure 8 overleaf). 1.16 Despite the icrease i efficiecy the demads upo the IPCC have icreased more quickly tha the IPCC s forecasts ad have ru ahead of its ability to complete ivestigatios o time (Figure 9 overleaf). As a result, the umber of idepedet ivestigatios uderway has icreased from 23 at 31 March 25 to 75 at 31 March 28 while the umber of maaged ivestigatios uderway has icreased from 93 to 186 over the same period. The IPCC cosiders that it is ow workig at over full capacity havig redeployed staff to ivestigatios from support activities such as quality review ad by redeployig work ad staff betwee regioal offices. The IPCC has also had to ed its use of third-party police forces to carry out exterally maaged ivestigatios i place of idepedet ivestigatios sice receivig legal advice i late 27 that it would be liable for the costs icurred by the ivestigatig force. 1.17 The IPCC s corporate pla for 25-8 stated that the IPCC should have the capacity to ope 5 idepedet ivestigatios each year. I 27-8, the IPCC opeed 1 cases ad, by Jue 28, it had already opeed 53 i 28-9. 1.18 The IPCC s uderstadig of the impact of Huma Rights case law has developed sice the IPCC s iceptio. Uder the terms of Articles 2 & 3 of the Huma Rights Act 1998, the IPCC is obliged to ivestigate all icidets where a perso has died or where a ear-miss icidet (such as a o-fatal suicide attempt) occurs, proximate to cotact with the police. As the IPCC s uderstadig of its obligatios has grow, it has icreased the umber of idepedet ivestigatios uder the terms of Articles 2 ad 3. BOX 3 The IPCC s mai activities Complaits: Whe it receives a complait or referral the IPCC has four optios uder the Police Reform Act 22. If the IPCC Commissioer resposible for the police force believes that the case does ot require IPCC ivolvemet, he or she may refer the case back to the police force to ivestigate locally. Alteratively, the IPCC may choose oe of the followig three methods of ivestigatio: Idepedet ivestigatio: For the most serious complaits, a idepedet ivestigatio is udertake by IPCC ivestigators. Maaged ivestigatio: These ivestigatios are udertake by the local police force agaist whom the complait has bee made, uder the directio ad cotrol of a IPCC ivestigator. The IPCC is resposible for settig out the aveues of equiry to be followed, moitorig progress, issuig further istructios if ecessary ad sigig-off the completed ivestigatio report whe satisfied. Supervised ivestigatio: The ivestigatio is performed by the local police force ad is uder its directio ad cotrol. The IPCC s role is limited to approvig the ivestigatio s terms of referece ad cofirmig that these have bee met at the coclusio of the ivestigatio. Appeals: The IPCC also processes appeals made by complaiats. Appeals may be about the local resolutio process, local ivestigatio by the force or a force s o recordig of a complait. Dispesatios ad discotiuaces: The IPCC decides whether to approve or reject applicatios by police forces to have a complait termiated if it is either vexatious or repetitious (dispesatio), or if the police force has ot received sufficiet assistace from the complaiat to progress the complait (discotiuace). Source: Natioal Audit Office 14 The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio

part oe 5 How complaits ad appeals are dealt with by the IPCC Complait made directly to IPCC (referred to police force for cofirmatio) Referral by police force received by IPCC Local police ivestigatio of complait No-recordig of a complait by police Mode of Ivestigatio decisio made by IPCC (formerly by Commissioer, ow by Regioal Director) Local resolutio of complait by police force Idepedet ivestigatio all work coducted by IPCC ivestigators Maaged ivestigatio coducted by local police force uder directio ad cotrol of IPCC Supervised ivestigatio coducted uder directio ad cotrol of local police force Local ivestigatio referred to local police force Appeal adjudicated by IPCC Casework Maager Applicatio for Judicial Review of IPCC decisio by High Court Source: IPCC 6 Idepedet ivestigatios started by the IPCC sice iceptio 7 Maaged ivestigatios started by the IPCC sice iceptio Idepedet ivestigatios started 12 1 8 6 4 2 Maaged ivestigatios started 2 16 12 8 4 24-5 25-6 26-7 27-8 24-5 25-6 26-7 27-8 Fiacial year Fiacial year Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of IPCC performace data Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of IPCC performace data The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio 15

part oe 1.19 Sice the IPCC was set up the balace of the types of ivestigatios has shifted from a prepoderace of supervised ivestigatios towards a higher proportio of maaged ad idepedet ivestigatios. This shift has occurred as a result of the developig legal requiremets to coduct idepedet ivestigatios i a wider rage of circumstaces as oted above ad growig scepticism about the value of supervised ivestigatios. IPCC ivestigators ad members of police forces ad represetatives (such as the Police Federatio) told us that they cosider that supervised ivestigatios add to the workload of both the IPCC ad the ivestigatig police force without improvig the quality of the ivestigatio from that of a local-level ivestigatio. The IPCC stock-take of the police complaits system 1.2 As part of its duty to oversee the police complaits system, ad four years o sice the itroductio of the curret system, the IPCC felt that it was the right time to take stock. The aims of the stock-take were: to check how well the system was workig agaist its origial aims; to check if the origial aims were still appropriate i the curret eviromet; ad to improve the system based o learig from the last four years of operatio. 1.21 The stock-take foud that the curret system was too focused o idetifyig who was to blame rather tha what wet wrog ad how it ca be put right; too bureaucratic ad slow; ad did ot resolve eough complaits at the local level. The IPCC published the stock-take report i Jue 28 with a set of 1 proposals (Figure 1), iteded to make improvemets to the system. The report ad proposals are curretly out for public cosultatio ad, subject to the respose, the IPCC iteds to begi implemetatio later i 28. The proposals rage from measures that may be straightforward to implemet, such as issuig a iterim fidigs report at a early stage of a idepedet ivestigatio, to proposals that would require primary legislatio, such as wideig the defiitio of a complait. 8 Appeals received 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 9 Appeals received by the IPCC sice iceptio 24-5 25-6 26-7 27-8 Fiacial year Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of IPCC performace maagemet data IPCC predicted ad actual workload for 27-8 Forecast operatioal capacity Actual demad Idepedet ivestigatios opeed 5 1 Maaged ivestigatios opeed 12 152 Supervised ivestigatios opeed 4 245 Appeals received 3,5 4,141 Dispesatio ad discotiuatio 2,2 3,45 requests received Source: IPCC Corporate Pla ad performace maagemet data 16 The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio

part oe 1 Issue Results of the IPCC s stock-take of the police complaits system i Jue 28 Proposal The curret legislatio defies a complait i terms of the coduct of a idividual officer, which results i legitimate cocers beig excluded from the complaits system because they are about systemic failure ad do t relate to the coduct of a idividual officer. It is also difficult for the public to uderstad what they ca complai about ad how to complai. The majority of complaits could be most effectively resolved by those at the local level as they are i the best positio to put thigs right. The focus o the complaits system eeds to be more about fixig the problem rather tha assigig blame. Curretly, a complait is oly substatiated if there is disciplie or crimial actio but does t recogise service failure. Local resolutio or ivestigatio of complaits ca be effectively reviewed locally if the complaiat is iitially usatisfied. The curret appeal structure is complex ad isufficietly trasparet. If more complaits are hadled at a local level, the importace of IPCC oversight of local force complait hadlig to maitai public cofidece will icrease. Curret police complaits performace data does ot adequately highlight the causes of poor performace. There is room for efficiecy gais (i both time ad resources) to be made, without udermiig essetial safeguards, if the bureaucratic procedures i receivig a complait are ratioalised. Cofidece i the police complaits system may be affected by the log duratio of some idepedet ivestigatios. 1 Remove the curret distictio betwee coduct, maladmiistratio ad service failure matters. 2 All complaits to be dealt with at the lowest appropriate level (keepig a direct route to the IPCC for the most serious cases). 3 Local assessmet ad hadlig with the aim of resolvig complaits ad improvig service through a rage of techiques. 4 Separate cosideratio of whether a complait is upheld from ay fidig of miscoduct/poor performace agaist a officer. A complait ca be upheld regardless of whether there is evidece of idividual miscoduct or poor performace. 5 Review withi the force if the complaiat is still ot satisfied. 6 Review the appeal structure. Itroduce oe overarchig right of appeal to the IPCC, a public iterest test ad clearer stadards showig how appeals to the IPCC will be hadled. 7 Greater oversight role for the IPCC to check force hadlig of lower-level complaits. 8 Itroduce measures to make complaits data more meaigful so as to drive improvemet i the system. 9 Remove excessive bureaucracy from the complaits system. 1 IPCC should ormally issue a early iterim statemet o idepedet ivestigatios. Source: IPCC The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio 17

part oe The IPCC performace agaist targets for maagig its workload 1.22 From 24-5 to 26-7, the IPCC reported its performace agaist a set of 25 targets. From 27-8 owards it reduced the umber of performace targets to ie Key Performace Idicators (Figure 11) so as to brig a tighter focus to bear o key measures, although a further 15 maagemet iformatio idicators are icluded i mothly performace reports. Betwee 26-7 ad 27-8, the IPCC substatially improved its performace agaist its targets, with eight of its ie key performace idicators showig a improvemet i performace ad oly the completio of maaged ivestigatios showig a declie i performace. 1.23 Appedix 2 sets out i full the IPCC s key performace idicators aalysed by regio. We focused our aalysis o three key measures as idicators of the IPCC s key outputs: the umbers of idepedet ivestigatios, maaged ivestigatios ad appeals completed. We examied the drivers of the IPCC s performace agaist the relevat targets for these three measures. Idepedet ivestigatios 1.24 The IPCC completed 82 idepedet ivestigatios i 27-8, which exactly met the IPCC s target for the year. The umber of idepedet ivestigatios the IPCC has completed has steadily icreased (Figure 12). However, the demad for ew idepedet ivestigatios (largely drive by the legal requiremet to lauch a idepedet ivestigatio for deaths followig police cotact) still outstrips the IPCC s output of completed ivestigatios. As a result the umber of ope idepedet ivestigatios rose to 75 at the ed of 27 8 from 57 at the ed of 26-7 (Figure 13). 11 The IPCC s performace agaist its key targets, 26-7 ad 27-8 Key Performace Idicator Timeframe Performace Target Target met 26-7 27-8 27-8 27-8 Number of idepedet 55 82 82 yes ivestigatios completed Number of maaged 18 147 197 No ivestigatios completed Percetage of Mode Of Ivestigatio Withi 2 65% 85% 75% yes decisios told to force withi timeframe workig days Percetage of appeals commuicated Withi 1 86% 9% 9% yes to force withi timeframe workig day Percetage of Local Resolutio ad Withi 25 35% 78% 6%/8% 1 Yes/No No-Recordig Appeals completed workig days withi timeframe Percetage of Ivestigatio Appeals Withi 25 21% 51% 35%/8% 2 Yes/No completed withi timeframe workig days Percetage of Direct Complaits resposes Withi 2 5% 54% 8% No provided to complaiat withi timeframe workig days Percetage of Direct Complaits Withi 2 52% 54% 8% No forwarded to force withi timeframe workig days Percetage of resposes to complaiat Withi 1 8% 83% 75% yes agaist IPCC persoel give o time workig days Source: IPCC performace data NOTES 1 The target for the completio of appeals agaist Local Resolutio ad the No-Recordig of Appeals withi 25 workig days was icreased from 6 per cet for Quarter 1 to 8 per cet for the year ed. 2 The target for the completio of Ivestigatio Appeals withi 25 workig days was icreased from 35 per cet for Quarter 1 to 8 per cet for the year ed. 18 The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio

part oe 1.25 The average legth of time take to complete a idepedet ivestigatio has falle to 172 workig days from a all-time high of 231 workig days i 26 7. I 27-8, for the first time, the IPCC met its target of completig 5 per cet of ivestigatios withi 157 workig days. The sharp drop i the average legth of idepedet ivestigatios i 27-8 has bee drive by a cocetratio of IPCC resources o idepedet ivestigatios, particularly those earig completio. 1.26 As part of this study, we examied a sample of 57 idepedet ivestigatios ad 3 maaged ivestigatios completed i the caledar year 27, ad 19 appeals which failed to meet the IPCC s performace target ad which were completed i October 27. This sample was draw from the 33 per cet of appeals which did ot meet the performace target of completio withi 25 workig days i October 27. The ivestigatios ad appeals covered cases i each of the IPCC s four regios. 1.27 Our iitial work had foud that, while the IPCC effectively idetified barriers to improvig its performace, a umber of those barriers were outside the IPCC s cotrol. From our sample of idepedet ivestigatios, we cofirmed that the majority of delays o ivestigatios were caused by factors outside the IPCC s direct cotrol (Figure 14 overleaf). 1.28 The failure to obtai statemets promptly from witesses ad/or police officers uder ivestigatio provided a sigificat delay i about a fifth of cases sampled. A uderlyig cause was the request from officers uder ivestigatio to be able to obtai legal advice before agreeig to iterviews. Delays were also caused i about a sixth of sampled ivestigatios by difficulties i obtaiig key evidece from pathologists or foresic experts, which is exterally cotracted. 1.29 We looked for the reasos for the loger delays o cases ad foud delays o four ivestigatios of up to 18 moths because the case had at some poit bee sub judice; the ivestigatio could ot progress util a related court case had bee completed to prevet the ivestigatio possibly prejudicig the trial (see Case Example 1 overleaf). Other exteral delays of more tha three moths icluded delays caused by reviews of the ivestigators fidigs beig udertake by the Crow Prosecutio Service ad delays i receivig iformatio from pathologists ad state coroers. The IPCC updated its maagemet iformatio software i April 28 ad ca ow measure the legths ad frequecy of delays due to exteral factors. 12 Idepedet ivestigatios completed 1 8 6 4 2 24-5 Fiacial year Source: IPCC performace maagemet data 13 Tred of idepedet ivestigatios completed by the IPCC sice iceptio 25-6 26-7 27-8 Number of idepedet ivestigatios ope 12 1 8 6 4 2 Tred of idepedet ivestigatios ope at year-ed 24-5 25-6 26-7 27-8 Fiacial year Source: IPCC performace maagemet data The Idepedet Police Complaits Commissio 19