A row has developed over how the UK police should handle disciplinary cases after calls from the head of the Metropolitan Police for more powers for constables to sack officers.
Met chief commissioner Mark Rowley, with the support of the chief constables of three of the other largest police forces in England and Wales, told the Home Office that the present system was a “legalistic, bureaucratic and expensive minefield” that forced police officers who were unfit to serve. Rowley added that the independent lawyers of the Legally Qualified Chairs (LQC) who oversaw police disciplinary cases were “fundamentally soft”.
In response, barrister John Bassett, president of the LQC, said Rowley had impugned the body’s reputation and “undermined the independence of the process”.
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The Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents rank-and-file officers, was also critical of Rowley’s calls for government to push through legislation that would give dismissal powers back to chief constables.
Steve Hartson, its chairman, said it was a “power grab” to divert from decades-long failings of senior officers to tackle misconduct, weak vetting and inappropriate relationships pursued by predatory officers. He said that Rowley and other chiefs were trying to erode a fair and transparent system.
Bassett said Rowley’s move for greater powers was at odds with the long history of police chiefs failing to address sexual misconduct and issues of corruption.
Statutory guidance, introduced in 2017, requires LCQs to begin with the least severe sanctions and work their way up to harsher penalties in specific circumstances. No such restrictions were placed on senior officers under the previous system.
Rowley said that he was open to a process in which independent people were involved alongside chief constables, and where sackings could be appealed against to preserve fairness, but emphasised that ultimately the decision of who worked at the Met should be up to him.
He told the Times newspaper that that government inaction was hampering his reform agenda at the Met.
Rowley, who took charge in September 2022, has vowed to rid the force of rogue officers after scandals including the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving policeman in 2021. He is lobbying government for changes to the disciplinary process, but claimed progress was slow because sacking powers were given to LQCs in 2016 after years of senior officers failing to root out predators and amid concerns they should not mark their own homework.
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Rowley, who complained about delays to a Home Office review of the system, said senior officers were almost twice as likely as LQCs to issue sackings. “LQCs have no leadership responsibilities”, he said, “they’re not thinking about public confidence in the same way and are fundamentally soft.”
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