30 November 2022

Chief Constable’s Report 

to  

Kent Police and Crime Commissioner’s Performance and Delivery Board 

 

Complaints – Annual Report 

Wednesday 30th November 2022 

Introduction 

Following changes to the IOPC Statutory Guidance on Police Complaints in 2020, complaints are now dealt with either under Schedule 3 to the Police Reform Act (Schedule 3 complaints) or outside of these provisions (Outside Schedule 3 complaints). Schedule 3 complaints will in most cases be subject of an investigation, whereas complaints sitting outside of Schedule 3 will often be able to be resolved promptly without the need for an investigation. 

The data in this report will in each case be clear whether it refers to Schedule 3 complaints, outside Schedule 3 complaints or both. The key areas of performance addressed in this report relate to Recording, Allegation types, Timeliness, Outcomes and Reviews. 

 

Recorded Complaints 

The below table presents the number of complaint cases handled inside and outside of Schedule 3 to the Police Reform Act 2002.   

 

 

 

Recorded complaint data for Kent shows an average of 179 Schedule 3 complaints per 1000 employees. This compares to an average of 146 complaints per 1000 employees nationally and 164 complaints per 1000 employees in our Most Similar Group of Forces. The overall trend for Kent however is a year-on-year reduction in the volume of complaints being recorded. Between Oct 21- Sep 22 there were 3431 recorded compared to 3815 in the same period last year which is a reduction of 384 complaints. 

 

 

 

 

Live Schedule 3 Complaints 

 

 

The volume of live complaints within Schedule 3 of the PRA has gradually increased through the summer months. This is a seasonal trend but the increase has been more significant this year than last year. It is however expected to begin to decrease over the next two quarters in line with previous years. 

Allegation Types 

This section presents information that shows what people complain about. Allegation categories capture the root of the dissatisfaction expressed in a complaint. A complaint case will contain one or more allegations and one category is selected for each allegation logged. 

Statutory guidance specifies categories, and subcategories and how they should be recorded.  Delivery of duties and service, and the subcategory general level of service accounts for the largest proportion of complaints. 

The table below describes the breakdown within Kent, our most similar force (MSF) and the national breakdown.   

Allegation Category	Total Recorded	Allegation %	MSF	National
Delivery of duties and service	2730	53%	54%	53%
Police powers, policies and procedures	1104	22%	19%	20%
Individual behaviours	592	12%	14%	14%
Discriminatory behaviour	248	5%	4%	3%
Access and/or disclosure of information	179	4%	2%	2%
Other	250	5%	7%	8%

 

Discrimination, Stop and Search and Use of Force complaints.  

The table below shows the volume of complaints that are associated with discrimination, stop and search or the use of force. These categories represent a very small proportion of complaints received by the Force and are subject to increased scrutiny through the Discrimination Scrutiny Panel, Independent Police Advisory Groups and the Policing Powers Oversight Board. 

	Oct21	Nov21	Dec21	Jan22	Feb22	Mar22	Apr22	May22	Jun22	Jul22	Aug22	Sep22
Discrimination Complaints	10	13	18	15	16	28	18	22	25	15	13	16
Stop/Search Complaints	6	3	3	1	3	5	5	2	1	4	4	0
Use of Force Complaints	19	14	9	13	12	26	19	17	16	11	12	19

 

Volumes in these categories remain stable but with slight seasonal increases in the summer months in keeping with general complaint data trends. 

Timeliness  

 

This section presents the time taken to finalise allegations handled within Schedule 3. The average number of days for this for a complaint to be finalised in Kent is 86 days, compared to a national average of 111 days and a Most Similar Force average of 106 days.  The data shows that 50% of complaints are finalised within 63 days, 90% are resolved with 193 days with 5% taking over 250 days. 

Timeliness data is monitored across the Force through local performance meetings and overseen centrally by the Professional Standards Department. Each of the three Divisional Commands has an allocated Operational Complaints Manager to ensure that complaints are progressed in a timely manner.  

 

Outcomes 

This section presents information about what happened as a result of the complaint. Over 60% of complaints are able to be resolved outside of schedule 3 to the complainant’s satisfaction with a further 29% being investigated within Schedule 3 but either being withdrawn, the service deemed acceptable or no further action being required. 8.4% of all complaints result in the service being found to be unacceptable and less than 0.1% of complaints result in a case to answer for misconduct proceedings. 

   

Complaint Result	Total	Oct 21	Nov 21	Dec 21	Jan 22	Feb 22	Mar 22	Apr 22	May 22	Jun 22	Jul 22	Aug 22	Sep 22
Resolved outside schedule 3	1996 (60.58%)	134	149	133	166	178	276	135	205	144	130	215	131
Complaint withdrawn	51 (1.55%)	3	5	1	2	6	6	4	6	6	2	7	3
No further action required	232 (7.04%)	24	29	21	13	25	21	10	17	13	26	16	17
Acceptable service level	677 (20.55%)	52	65	67	51	62	58	36	62	66	63	51	44
Unacceptable service level	277 (8.41%)	19	19	23	17	22	30	28	18	18	25	35	23
Case to answer	3 (0.09%)	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0

 

Reviews 

This section presents information about the decisions made by review bodies. It includes the volume of reviews and whether the relevant review body has upheld or not upheld the appeal.  

During the past 12 months 84% of reviews were not upheld and 16% required further investigation.  The predominant reason for a successful appeal is that not all of the allegations within the complaint have been fully addressed to a satisfactory conclusion. Kent Police continue to train and upskill our complaints assessors to ensure that all allegations are recognised, recorded, and investigated in accordance with the statutory guidance and relevant legislation. 

The 2021/22 national figures are not yet available however, 2020/21 data provides a national figure of 18.7% of reviews upheld and a MSF figure of 18.1%.  

 

	Oct21	Nov 21	Dec 21	Jan 22	Feb 22	Mar 22	Apr 22	May 22	Jun22	Jul 22	Aug 22	Sep 22
IOPC Review - Upheld	0	1	1	1	2	2	1	0	1	0	1	0
IOPC Review - Not Upheld	1	1	2	3	9	2	2	5	2	1	5	3
OPCC Review - Upheld	4	2	1	2	3	6	4	4	0	2	1	2
OPCC Review - Not Upheld	12	11	15	15	14	17	19	8	26	23	11	14