The Policing and Crime Act 2017 and supporting regulations made significant changes to the police complaints and disciplinary systems. The changes came into effect on 1 February 2020 and apply to matters that came to the attention of police forces, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), or the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) on or after that date.

 

This included creating a single right to apply for a review of the outcome of a complaint recorded under Schedule 3 of the Police Reform Act 2002.

 

Statutory guidance on the police complaints system published by the IOPC states that, at the conclusion of the handling of a complaint recorded under Schedule 3 of the Police Reform Act 2002, the Appropriate Authority (AA) must inform the complainant about their right to apply for a review of the outcome of their complaint, and who the application for a review should be made to. Depending on the circumstances of the complaint, the application for a review will be considered either by the Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner for Kent (OPCC), or the IOPC.

 

The IOPC expects the AA, which locally would be Kent Police’s Professional Standards Department (PSD), to also advise the complainant of the requirement to request a review within 28 days. This 28 days will commence the day after the day on which the complainant is sent the outcome of their complaint.

 

Information on how the public can request a review of a complaint which has been handled under Schedule 3 of the Police Reform Act 2002 is also published on the Commissioner’s website, and is supported by this accessible, public-facing policy.

 

Receiving a request for a review

 

1. A request for a review to the OPCC can be made online at kent-pcc.gov.uk/get-in-touch; or submitted by email to [email protected]; or in writing to: The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, South Block, Kent Police, Sutton Road, Maidstone ME15 9BZ

 

2. A complainant who indicates a desire to request a review by leaving a voicemail on 01622 677055 will be contacted by the OPCC and encouraged to provide their grounds for a review in writing to ensure their grounds are accurately recorded. If the complainant is unable to provide their grounds in writing a member of the OPCC may take down their grounds over the phone. The OPCC will produce a written summary of their grounds and seek the complainant’s written confirmation that the summary is accurate before proceeding with the review.

 

3. Where correspondence is received which does not implicitly request a review but is regarded by the OPCC as a potential request for review, a member of the OPCC will contact the complainant to clarify their intentions and explain the reviews process if applicable.

 

Recording and acknowledging the request 

 

4. On receipt of the request for a review, the OPCC will log that a request has been made on an internal document.

 

5. The AA, which locally would be Kent Police PSD, will be informed of the request via an entry on the Kent Police complaints database.

 

6. Where required, the grounds for the review will be sent to the Investigating Officer (IO) who handled the complaint, and any subject(s) of the complaint, to give them an opportunity to provide the OPCC with comments or to provide any additional documents which are relevant to the review.

 

7. If, due to the nature of the review, the OPCC deems it unnecessary to contact the IO and/or subject(s) for further information, this determination will be recorded on the Kent Police complaints database.

 

8. An acknowledgement will be sent to the complainant either by email or post advising them of receipt and to highlight what the OPCC must consider in order to ensure that the request is valid:

 

1. That the OPCC is the correct body to review the complaint;
2. That the person making the request has the right to request a review;

• That the request is valid; that is, it contains all the necessary details for the OPCC to consider the review;

1. That it has been made within the 28 day-limit, or if not, there is a valid reason for the request to be outside of this period.

 

9. The OPCC will advise the complainant that it will aim to provide a response within 40 working days from the date of the written acknowledgement. Where, either due to reviews workloads or the complexity of a specific review, there is likely to be any delay the OPCC will notify the complainant accordingly.

 

Potentially invalid requests

 

10. If during the review handling process, the OPCC identifies that one or more of the above key criteria are not met, the complainant will be advised accordingly. The complainant will be offered the opportunity to demonstrate that the person making the request has the right to request a review; and/or provide additional grounds for their review; and/or provide a valid reason for the request to be considered outside of the 28-day limit.

 

11. If a satisfactory response is received then the review will be considered in full.

 

12. If a satisfactory response is not received, the complainant will be advised why their review request has been deemed invalid. This determination will be recorded on an internal document and the AA will be informed via an entry on the Kent Police complaints database.

 

Handling the review request

 

13. The process of conducting a review is set out within Chapter 18 of the statutory guidance on the police complaints system published by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

 

14. It is not the role of the OPCC to make a judgement on legal issues, or operational matters such as ongoing or concluded criminal cases. It is solely the OPCC’s role to judge whether Kent Police have acted reasonably and proportionately in trying to resolve the complaint. The OPCC will not re-investigate any matter(s) which led to the complaint or the action taken by police. Operational policing decisions are not within the remit of a review.

 

15. The OPCC will document its handling of the review - including actions taken, requests for additional information from Kent Police, and any decisions made - on an internal ‘reviews proforma’.

 

16. Communication with Kent Police and/or the complainant during the course of the review process will be saved and entered onto the Kent Police complaints database.

 

Communicating the outcome

 

17. Once a decision has been reached whether to uphold the review or not, the OPCC will send a letter by email or post to the complainant to communicate the outcome and the reason for it.

 

18. The AA will be informed of the outcome, and of any recommendations made, via entries on the Kent Police complaints database.

 

19. Where, in addition to providing valid grounds for requesting a review of their complaint, a complainant has requested further action be taken which is outside of the OPCC’s remit – for example they wish to report a crime or make a request for financial compensation from Kent Police - the OPCC’s outcome letter will advise the complainant of the contact details for the correct body.

 

20. If the complainant has raised a new complaint about Kent Police, and there is likely sufficient information for the complaint to be appropriately addressed, this will be sent directly to Kent Police PSD to consider. The OPCC’s outcome letter will advise the complainant of that fact.

 

21. The outcome letter will also advise the complainant that, if they have any concerns regarding the review carried out or they wish to challenge the outcome, this can be done via judicial review. A link which may assist will be provided.

 

22. After the outcome has been sent, if further correspondence is received by the OPCC which constitutes a reasonable request for a clarification or a request to receive the outcome letter in another format, an appropriate response will be sent.

 

23. Otherwise, the complainant will be advised that it is the OPCC’s policy not to enter into correspondence with complainants after a review has been carried out because there is no further information to provide them with. They will again be directed to the option to request a judicial review.

 

Monitoring

 

24. Key data, including numbers of review requests received by the OPCC and the timeliness of responses sent, is collated on an internal spreadsheet to assist with monitoring of demand and the OPCC’s performance.

 

25. The OPCC keeps track of how oversight points and recommendations it has made to PSD have been responded to, to ensure continued service improvement and to see that errors have been put right on behalf of the public. Regular meetings between the OPCC and PSD enable trends, themes, and/or any concerns relevant to Kent Police’s handling of complaints to be discussed.

 

26. Accountability is also ensured through annual reporting to key governance and oversight boards.

 

This policy is subject to revision by the Monitoring Officer or their Deputy

 

 

Date	Name
Sept 2022	Laura Steward