Category: United Kingdom National Police Chiefs Council

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has submitted evidence to the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) and the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB).

Police chiefs, whilst recognising the financial context, are calling for an increase in officer pay across all ranks of 3.8% as well as raising the starting salary for constables and reviewing pay scales to match skills and experience.

These changes together will help with the recruitment and retention of officers and in turn support the Government’s Safer Streets Mission, Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee and its focus on reducing knife crime, anti-social behaviour and violence against women and girls.

The recommendations, recognising the highly demanding nature of the role, also include wider officer pay structure reform and outline the importance of making policing a competitive career through better pay for all officers.

Police chiefs have also stressed the importance of adequate funding for all forces to cover any increase, recognising that the ability for forces to absorb additional cost pressures is extremely limited.

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Pay and Conditions, Assistant Chief Officer Philip Wells, said: “Below market starting salaries for constables and real term pay cuts for officers poses a significant challenge to attracting and retaining talented police officers.

“To deliver against the Government’s Safer Streets Mission and Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee we need to recruit, build and retain skills, attracting those people with the aptitude but also values and standards we need in policing.

“Our recommendations recognise the significant financial pressure facing both forces and government, whilst advocating for the critical need for a funded uplift in officer pay which reflects the incredibly challenging nature of the job.”

Government funding to establish a dedicated national hub that will centralise policing’s response to violence against women and girls and wider crimes associated with vulnerability has been confirmed today (Sunday, 2 February).

The creation of a dedicated policing hub will support forces with specialist knowledge and training for investigators and officers, and lead on a national approach to preventing these crimes from happening, with other agencies.

Police chiefs declared violence against women and girls a national emergency last year, and called for a whole-system approach that brings together criminal justice partners, government bodies and industry, to tackle the threat through prevention.

Policing mobilised its response to tackle violence against women and girls at a national level by establishing a dedicated taskforce sat within the National Police Chiefs’ Council in 2021. Since then, the taskforce has worked with the College of Policing, the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme, the Child Sexual Exploitation taskforce, government and support organisations to drive consistency and best practice across all forces in England and Wales.

Building on the successes of programs like Operation Soteria, the new centre will work with academics to ensure an evidence-based approach, transforming the way policing looks at and responds to these crimes.

T/CC Maggie Blyth, National Police Chief’s Council lead for Violence Against Women and Girls said: “We welcome the official announcement and the financial support of government to implement a national policing centre to further protect victims and enhance our specialist capability to target perpetrators.

“We already have the foundations in place, we have a strong partnership across the College of Policing (CoP), National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and specialised programmes to drive better consistency in policing’s response to violence against women and girls.

“Our officers work tirelessly every day to bring offenders to justice and keep people safe, but we need to do more and that starts with equipping our officers with the right training and support to be able to investigate effectively, in the same way as we would provide specialist training to firearms or public order officers.

“We also need to listen and support victims through the criminal justice process and alongside partners, we will drive improvements for swifter justice and a quicker more robust response when people seek our help.

“As we set out last year, the threat and scale of violence against women and girls (VAWG), has reached epidemic levels and it is estimated that at least 1 in every 12 women will be a victim of VAWG every year (2 million victims) and 1 in 20 adults in England and Wales will be a perpetrator of VAWG every year (2.3 million perpetrators). The figures are probably even higher, so we must act now to stop male-perpetrated violence, and we are committed to transforming the policing of public protection, so we have a national standard to decrease harm and cost to society.

“The national centre forms part of our wider work with government on our shared commitment to reform policing and ensure forces have the people and resources they need to keep the public safe.”

Assistant Chief Constable Tom Harding, the College of Policing’s Director of Operational Standards, said:

“Every year, at least one in 12 women will be the victim of violence. This is a startling and unacceptable statistic and one which we, collectively, must commit ourselves to changing.

“Policing is dedicated to protecting women and girls by targeting those who seek to harm them; and ensuring victims have the confidence to come forward, that they are listened to, treated compassionately and receive the best possible service.

“That’s why we’ll place victims at the heart of the new centre and work across law enforcement, government and key stakeholders in both the public and voluntary sectors to boost the training we give to officers working in this area.

“The College of Policing will support forces to achieve the highest possible standards and, building on the success of the existing programmes, we will provide policing with the data, research and insight to improve the response to violence against women and girls.

“I’m grateful to the government for the support and funding provided.”

500% increase in police costs for dealing with dangerous dogs expected by end of financial year 

Almost one year on from the ban on XL Bully dogs in the UK, the latest figures show the huge burden this has placed on policing, with kennel spaces reaching capacity and costs increasing by the day.  

Chief Constable Mark Hobrough is National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for dangerous dogs, he said: 

“Since the introduction of the ban on XL Bully dogs police services have had to quickly adapt, taking positive action to respond to thousands of calls from the public and doing everything we can to remove these dangerous dogs from our communities.  

“Undoubtedly the ban and our response to it has driven down the number of dog attacks and we are pleased that the public continues to support us by reporting suspected XL Bully dogs in their local area.  

“However, the demand has been and continues to be simply huge. We are facing a number of challenges in kennel capacity, resourcing and ever-mounting costs and as of today, we have not received any additional funding to account for this.  

“Veterinary bills and the cost of kennelling across policing has risen from £4m in 2018 to currently standing at more than £11m and this is expected to rise to as much as £25m by the end of April 2025. That’s a predicted 500% increase. 

“Before the XL Bully ban was introduced there were 120 Dog Liaison Officers across England and Wales, we then trained an additional 100 with a further 40 identified to be trained this coming year.  This means that in some areas established dog handlers have been called away from other policing duties. We have had to purchase additional vehicles, equipment and find countless extra kennel spaces from the finite that are available within the industry.   

“Policing will uphold the government’s decisions, and we’ll act robustly to do so, but the bigger picture is a focus on responsible dog ownership. People need to be aware of the types of dogs that they’re bringing into their homes and make the right decisions to choose a breed which suits their lifestyle, environment and experience. 

“We are also asking for amendments to the existing legislation so we have alternative options to deal with the specific circumstances of a particular case. At the moment, the only option you have is to go to court when someone is in possession of an unregistered XL Bully but we feel there are some situations which could be swiftly dealt with through out of court disposals. For example, there’s potentially a big difference in someone who has unwittingly ended up owning a dog from a young age they weren’t aware was an XL Bully or those who on veterinary advice were unable to have their dog neutered by the deadline versus an individual who is intentionally breeding and selling these dogs.  

“At the top end, unscrupulous criminal dealers and breeders need to feel the full weight of the law going to court but alternative methods of out of court disposals would support us in taking a proportionate response as required.   

“We will always protect our communities by ensuring these dangerous dogs are dealt with but we urgently need the Government to support us in coping with the huge demand the ban has placed on our ever-stretched resources.” 

Statistics 

• Police forces in England and Wales have seized and euthanised 848 dogs between February and September 2024 at an estimated cost of £340K. These were dogs which were surrendered to police by owners who had not complied with the ban, nor taken advantage of the compensation scheme. 

• Between February and September 2024, policing has seized over 4,586 suspected S1 dogs * throughout England and Wales. People have been going to court, and will continue to do so, facing criminal convictions, fines and imprisonment for being in possession of these illegal types of dog. 

• Since the start of the XL Bully ban police services have increased kennel capacity by a third.  

• It can cost up to £1,000 a month to keep dogs in kennels and with up to an 18-month lead in time so both kennel demand / expenditure moving forward will become even more acute. We are aware of court cases not being scheduled until mid-2026 for some dangerously out of control cases. 

• The police officer/staff overtime bill for forces between February 2024 and September 2024 was circa £560K. 

*A section 1 dog is any of the specified banned breeds in the Dangerous Dogs Act.  

A national amnesty will take place in February for owners of soon to be outlawed blank firing guns to hand them over to police.

Police forces across England and Wales will be holding a four-week Firearms Amnesty for Turkish manufactured top-venting blank firers (TVBFs) which are now illegal to possess following testing by the National Crime Agency and policing.

The amnesty will take place between 3 to 28 February 2025, after which anyone in possession of a top-venting blank firer (TVBF) could be subject to prosecution and up to 10 years imprisonment.

Tests by the National Crime Agency and policing, funded by the Home Office, show models produced by four Turkish manufacturers are readily convertible and therefore illegal. TVBFs are legal to buy in the UK without a licence by over 18s unless they are readily convertible.

In their original state TVBFs have a fully blocked barrel and are designed to discharge only blank cartridges. When discharged, combustion gases vent from the top of the weapon. TVBFs are sold with at least 50 per cent of their visible surface painted a bright colour however, criminals may paint them black so they look like an original lethal purpose (OLP) weapon as well as convert them to a lethal purpose firearm.

Since 2021, UK law enforcement has recovered more than 800 of the guns in criminal circumstances and converted blank firers have been used in at least four homicides in the UK in the last two years. The specific Turkish firearms soon be made illegal are models with the brand names ‘Retay’, ‘Ekol’, ‘Ceonic ISSC’ and ‘Blow’, although anyone with a TVBF who is unsure of whether the law change applies to them has been given the simple advice – if in doubt, hand it in.

Firearms legislation has not changed; the weapons are illegal to own under the Firearms Act 1968 as they can be readily converted using common household tools and without specialist skill on the part of the person carrying out the conversion. Recent testing completed by the NCA has demonstrated this. The police are asking people to hand in any TVBFs before 28 February 2025 to help them avoid prosecution and prevent these pistols getting into the wrong hands.

Many TVBFs may be held in innocence and ignorance of their illegality or may be overlooked or forgotten in people’s homes. The amnesty gives holders the chance to dispose of the TVBFs safely by taking it to a local police station and handing it in.

The amnesty for TVBFs will be held for four weeks. Other unwanted, unlicensed firearms and ammunition may be surrendered to police at any time which will avoid the risk of them becoming involved in criminality and means that members of the community can dispose of firearms in a safe place.

During the Amnesty period, those handing in a Turkish manufactured TVBF will not face prosecution for the illegal possession and will not have to give their details. However, the history of any live firearms handed in will be checked for evidence if its use in crime.

Assistant Chief Constable Tim Metcalfe, National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for the Criminal Use of Firearms, said: “The top-venting blank firers are used by criminals and can be converted into lethal firearms.

“During the last two years, policing and the NCA has identified and disrupted several workshops used to convert these pistols into lethal weapons.

“In the same period, large numbers of converted weapons were recovered across multiple locations, alongside thousands of rounds of blank calibre and modified ammunition.

“One investigation recovered more than 400 converted weapons from a single crime group. There is a strong demand for them evidenced by the numbers imported and subsequent recovery from criminals.

“Stopping the sale of these top-venting blank firers from being converted will go a significant way to help protect the public.”

Top-venting blank firers can be handed in at designated police stations across England and Wales but anyone handing one during the Firearms Amnesty is advised to check with their local force regarding station locations and opening times for the amnesty. To receive advice on how best to transport the weapon responsibly from home to the police station phone 101 before travelling.

If you know of people involved in illegal firearms activity should call the Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Every call to Crimestoppers is anonymous and potentially vital to preventing or solving serious crimes; removing an illegally held firearm may just save someone’s life.

It comes after chief constables voted last month to fund a national team to drive delivery of the Police Race Action Plan (PRAP) for a further 12 months.

Police chiefs have agreed the focus of the Police Race Action Plan team for next year.

It comes after chief constables voted last month to fund a national team to drive delivery of the Police Race Action Plan (PRAP) for a further 12 months.

The PRAP is the biggest coordinated effort ever across every police force in England and Wales to improve trust and confidence in policing among Black communities.

Every Chief Constable has signed up to support the plan and achieve its objectives, the first time there has been such a coordinated response across policing to making the vital improvements envisaged under the plan.

Established in 2020, with the plan published two years later, it was intended that the national team would drive delivery of the programme for four years, but the national team has been extended for another year following a decision by Chief Constables Council, which represents UK police chiefs.

In 2025 the programme will be focusing on giving police forces the tools and support they need to embed anti-racist policy and practice across policing.  Priorities for the team in 2025/2026 are:

• Supporting police forces to implement action and policy developed by the programme team, National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and College of Policing to deliver an anti-racist police service, such as recording the ethnicity of those subject to traffic stops.
• Reviewing and prioritising actions and projects under the programme and making plans to transition activity led by the programme into the NPCC, College of Policing or police forces.
• Finalising long term processes for measuring, overseeing and scrutinising the performance and impact of the plan and policing’s progress towards anti-racism over time.  This includes a proposed maturity matrix that will enable police forces to assess and track their progress.
• The central team will be working with stakeholders over the coming months to test, refine and begin to implement these processes. Engagement is being planned with police forces, the plan’s Independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board (ISOB), the National Black Police Association (NBPA) and the Home Office, as well as civil society and community groups. 

• Ensuring police forces, partners and the public understand what has been delivered so far and what to expect from policing in the future. Continuing to engage with police forces and leading civil society groups working in criminal justice and anti-racism will be critical to this.
• Sharing knowledge and good practice identified in local forces across England and Wales.

These priorities reflect and address recommendations from the ISOB’s most recent annual report.

The plan’s senior team has recently held positive discussions with the Policing Minister and senior government officials, as well as leading civil society groups. These discussions around joint working and shaping the future direction of the plan will continue in the coming months.

November also saw the NBPA vote to re-engage with the plan, lifting a suspension of support that had been in place since June.

T/Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dr Alison Heydari, programme director for the PRAP, said: “Tireless work by our central team and invaluable insight from the partners we work with has helped deliver some major strides forward over recent months.

“I am under no illusion about the scale of the challenge that still exists to build the trust and confidence of our Black communities in policing.

“Our mission over the next year is to give policing the tools it needs to deliver the plan’s long-term vision to build an anti-racist police service.”

This is centred on a maturity matrix assessment across key areas of delivery for an anti-racist police service, underpinned by key performance measures.

Over the coming months the plan’s central team will continue its work with police forces, partners such as ISOB, the NBPA and the Home Office, as well as civil society and community groups, to finalise this assessment, including how communities will be involved in it.

Abimbola Johnson, chair of the ISOB, said: “The extension of the Police Race Action Plan (“PRAP”) has proven necessary after slow progress and an initial lack of traction in delivery against policing’s anti-racism goal. PRAP was announced four-and-a-half years ago and sadly many community members, internal and external to policing, continue to report that policing does not feel different in its impact upon them; in some cases, that their experiences have worsened. 

“In the last few years, we have seen pockets of good work, commitment and progress. These have primarily been driven by hardworking individuals and have landed best where they have received proper backing and support from local leadership. We have also been frustrated by delays in achieving simple and logical steps to get work underway. 

“Sustained focus and resources are critical to achieving PRAP’s vision of an anti-racist police service. Progress requires commitment and delivery by the central team but also adoption of responsibility and prioritisation by local police forces, parallel commitment by statutory accountability organisations like HMICFRS and the IOPC, and the involvement of central government. Input from communities and anti-racism experts must be utilised appropriately to give this work the legitimacy it requires. 

“We are encouraged that the 2025/26 priorities reflect key recommendations from our recent report, including embedding anti-racist policies, developing a maturity matrix to measure progress, and transitioning activities into long-term structures. We have started to see work that reflects proper commitment to those recommendations.

“This year, our scrutiny work will be focussing on the legacy of this plan. Policing needs to demonstrate that anti-racism commitment is a permanent focus that will outlive the central team’s final year: joined up working, structural reform and cultural changes.”

Today (Wednesday 18 December) His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) have published the first part of their findings into the police response to this summer’s violent disorder.

The Inspectorate state that, with the benefit of hindsight, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) should have activated the national mobilisation plan earlier. However, they also recognise the complexities of the operation, and that policing was dealing with many unpredictable seats of disorder, while dealing with a disparate intelligence picture.

The report acknowledges that the national mobilisation of resources worked well and that this was instrumental in ending the disorder and restoring peace to our towns and cities. We’re pleased that this has been recognised as it testament to the incredible work undertaken by our officers, staff, and volunteers, who were dutiful and quick to respond in the face of real danger and adversity, and unprecedented escalation.

The Inspectorate also rightly recognise that local mobilisation was conducted robustly, and that it was only when these responses became insufficient, inflamed in part by social media, that a national mobilisation plan was required to support forces across the country. The impact of social media and the sporadic nature of some of the violence was not predictable in advance and led to unprecedented violence fuelled by disinformation. In some areas, social media indicated that disorder was expected, but it did not materialise.

We accept the Inspectorate’s recommendations and findings, and our own reflective work (conducted with forces and the College of Policing) is already making substantial changes across policing to better prepare the police service for any future disorder of this scale. 

The senseless violence and destruction of communities by groups of violent thugs was completely inexcusable and policing responded quickly to arrest those suspected of involvement. Working closely with partners in Government and the criminal justice system, we have ensured that perpetrators of violence have received swift justice.

To ensure that operational learning is collated, shared and implemented, the College of Policing is currently carrying out a thorough debrief of forces and officers. The themes being looked at include around welfare, tactics, leadership, and equipment. The responses to this are currently being analysed.

As stated in the report, the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) has recognised the need to review capacity and capability, and have already made substantial updates to the national mobilisation plan.

In September, NPoCC circulated this draft plan for consultation. This revised plan begins to address the need for the national coordinating gold commander to have the explicit authority to decide on national mobilisation numbers and to set the strategic plan that forces should follow.

The NPCC has also already carried out an impact survey following the conclusion of the summer disorder to help understand what impact this had on individual officers. The majority of respondents have reported being aware of the physical and wellbeing support available to them through their force but less aware that this support was available through the National Police Wellbeing Service, Oscar Kilo. This finding has also been reflected in the report. It is an important learning and something that chief constables will take time to carefully reflect on.

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Public Order, Chief Constable BJ Harrington said:

“Scrutiny and reflection must always be expected after responding to major incidents such as this summer’s major disorder, and we thank the Inspectorate and forces for working quickly to complete this work.

“The report states that, with hindsight, the national mobilisation plan should have been made earlier, and this is a helpful recommendation. Hindsight can be useful, and these learnings are important, but we are pleased that the Inspectorate also recognise how complex of a situation this was for policing to respond to, and that on the whole, the service did so well. Of particular note, I’m pleased that the report recognises that the mobilisation of resources was instrumental in ending the disorder and restoring peace to our towns and cities.

“This was the largest mobilisation of public order public safety officers since 2011, and it is encouraging to see that the report acknowledges the immense bravery and professionalism shown by our people at this time, often in the face of serious abuse and threats.

“We are committed to continuous improvement and learning, and all of the report’s findings and recommendations will of course be considered very carefully. Those relating to the national management of public order related intelligence and also the process for effective national decision-making are timely, and can be considered as part of wider conversations currently taking place within policing and Government regarding police reform.”

The national policing response launched by NPCC – Operation Navette – was created to provide effective national coordination for the planning and response to demonstrations and disorder, as well as engagement and communication with forces, government and key national stakeholders. This included:

• A national Gold group established and led by the NPCC Public Order and Public Safety Lead.
• An intelligence coordination group led by the NPCC Intelligence Lead.
• The activation of the national mobilisation plan and the development of national strategic public order research, with NPoCC assuming a central coordination function for all public order assets across the country.

At the outset, forces affected by these issues planned and resourced operations based upon assessment of threat and risk within a local context. This included neighbourhood officers, as well as public order trained person

Throughout the period of Operation Navette, forces continued to mobilise neighbourhood policing resources alongside public order reserves. In many force areas these were sufficient, and managed responses to disorder and assemblies effectively.

Despite the demands on our people, ‘business as usual’ policing activity never ceased; as always, responding to crime and maintaining public safety remained the top priority for all chief constables.

For example, the period of disorder coincided with the start of the new Premier League season, and there was some speculation in the press that policing would be unable to commit its normal level of resourcing. However, forces, in conjunction with the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU), were able to mitigate risk to an acceptable level, and the weekend’s fixtures took place without major incident.

Police forces are committed to delivering swift justice for those involved in the summer disorder. As of 13 November 2024, there have been:

•  1,711 arrests
•  1,041 charges

127 suspects have been identified using retrospective facial recognition.

340 suspects have been observed in footage who are yet to be identified – work continues to bring them to justice.

The highest volume of arrests took place in the north and centre of England and were primarily for public order offences.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council responds to today’s announcement on the police funding settlement. 

Responding to today’s announcement on police funding, National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Finance, Chief Constable Paul Sanford, said:

“The funding settlement announced today presents real challenges for policing, with forces facing an estimated £1.3bn gap in finances over the next two years. This will inevitability lead to cuts across forces.

“Investment in neighbourhood policing is welcome, as is the Government’s ambition to support and deliver the wide-scale reform our service needs in order to better protect the public in the long term.

“However, by ringfencing funding for neighbourhood police officers, forces are unable to invest in other specialist areas of policing that are critical to our service.

“Crime is evolving at a rapid pace and becoming more and more complex in nature. At a time when community needs have never been greater, we cannot afford to cut back our resources.

“We are fully committed to achieving the Government’s ambition of making our streets safer and reducing violence against women and girls. To do that, we need to focus on recruiting the right people with the right skills, supported by the best technology, and not measure our effectiveness alone through officer numbers.

“Our current funding model is outdated and means that the funding announced today will not be evenly shared across forces, resulting in some forces facing significant deficits. As part of wider police reform, we have long called for a new funding model that would help forces to plan for the future and improve financial resilience.

“We continue to work with government to drive greater productivity and efficiency in our police service, however, without proper funding and investment, and with no resilience left in police budgets, efficiencies can only take us so far to meet these challenges.

“We reaffirm our commitment to work closely with government to improve policing, including through the forthcoming spending review.”

National policing team in place for next stage of Post Office Horizon criminal investigation

• 100-strong investigation team made up of officers across the UK
• Investigation continues to focus on offences of perjury and perverting the course of justice
• Over 1.5m documents so far to review and thousands of victims

An ongoing investigation unprecedented in size and scale will now be supported by a 100-strong team of skilled police officers and staff from across the UK to try and secure justice for the thousands of people affected by the Post Office Horizon scandal.

Operation Olympos is the ongoing criminal investigation into what is often described as the largest miscarriage of justice in British legal history. It has been running since 2020, and in parallel with the Public Inquiry since it began in February 2022. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the Metropolitan Police Service have been working with Chief Constables across the UK to build a national investigation team, which is now in place. The investigation is currently reviewing over 1.5 million documents, although the true scale is not yet known.

Four Regional Investigation Teams (RITs) are made up from police forces across England and Wales with Police Scotland, Police Service of Northern Ireland and the National Crime Agency, also making a contribution.

Op Olympos is currently investigating offences of perjury and perverting the course of justice and is not a reinvestigation of all of the prosecutions of sub postmasters. It is a focussed and proportionate investigation into potential criminality in the prosecutions of sub-postmasters and the wider presentation of the Horizon IT system as robust.

Commander Stephen Clayman is Gold lead for Op Olympos, he said:

“The sub-postmasters and their families are at the heart of this investigation and our goal is to try and secure justice for those affected by this shocking set of events, the impact of which cannot be underestimated.

“The scale of the task ahead  is unprecedented and I am confident we have an excellent team in place, with the support of cutting-edge technology to strengthen our search for information and evidence in amongst the 1.5 million-plus documents obtained and which will grow.

“I do know that if you take into account Post Office criminal and private prosecutions, civil claims and contract withdrawals, there are potentially thousands of victims who we are working hard to identify and build our database so that we can ensure we reach as many affected individuals as possible.

“I cannot make promises that this will be a fast process.  An investigation of this size must continue to be undertaken meticulously and methodically and will take time. However, I speak on behalf of our whole team when I say we will approach it with independence, precision and integrity.”

Emily Spurrell, APCC Chair, said:

“The severe and enduring impact on sub-postmasters has become increasingly clear as events have unfolded, and the stories have emerged of some of those wrongfully prosecuted and convicted. Victims of the Horizon IT scandal exist in every part of the UK – innocent people whose lives have been ruined over a quarter of a century.

“Those who found themselves caught up in this through no fault of their own deserve justice and, as what is likely to be a lengthy police investigation scales up, they are entitled to be fully supported through it. Under the Victims Code of Practice, victims have a right to be referred to free support services for help in coping and recovering after a crime.

“Delivering support for victims is key to what Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) do, and I would encourage any of those affected, or their families, to contact their local PCC for help in accessing support services available in their area.”

The team has launched a Major Investigation Public Portal where anyone can submit information and documents and will shortly be publishing a dedicated webpage to provide updates and resources on the investigation as it progresses.

If you have information to submit or would like to get in touch with the investigation team, you can do so here Public Portal.

Further information about Op Olympos

National oversight of the investigation is provided by a Platinum group, led by NPCC Chair, Chief Constable Gavin Stephens comprised of nationally appointed leads for the investigation, finance, Crown Prosecution Service and victim engagement. Its role is to ensure the national team remains resourced to agreed strengths, along with oversight of the financial management of the investigation and infrastructure. 

The investigation is unprecedented in both scale, complexity and is truly national in  scope – with most areas across England and Wales affected, along with Scotland and Northern Ireland. Given that that the majority of victims are located outside of London, it was determined that this should not be the sole responsibility of the MPS and that a national policing response would be necessary to build the larger team required.

Phase 1 of this investigation focuses on individuals making key decisions on post office investigations of supporting prosecutions and related activity. Phase 2 will look at wider offences.

Whilst the investigation was progressing in parallel to the Public Inquiry and will continue to do so now that is coming to an end, no charging decisions will be made until the final inquiry report is both received and thoroughly reviewed.

Further information available here