Service Police Complaints Commissioner (SPCC)
The SPCC provides independent oversight of the Service Police complaints process, and investigates 'super-complaints' with His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) into systemic failures in Service policing.
Who we are
The Service Police Complaints Commissioner (SPCC) is a crown appointment independent of the Service Police and the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The Office of the SPCC is supported by civil servants, independent SPCC investigators and reviewers.
Service Police complaints
The SPCC provides oversight of the Service Police complaints process to raise standards in Service policing, and secure trust and confidence in the Service Police complaints system.
The SPCC’s role is similar to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which is the police complaints watchdog for England and Wales. It is responsible for investigating the most serious complaints and conduct matters involving the police and sets the standard by which the police should handle complaints.
The SPCC is separate from the Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces (SCOAF). The Ombudsman considers complaints made by Service and ex-Service personnel who believe they were wronged during their service in the Armed Forces.
The role of the SPCC includes:
- A statutory duty to secure, maintain and review arrangements for procedures that deal with complaints, conduct, and Death and Serious Injury (DSI) matters.
- To secure the confidence of persons subject to service law and discipline, and the wider public, in the Service Police complaints system.
- To make recommendations and provide advice on Service Police complaint arrangements – for example, providing training or guidance on changes to procedures where this may improve policing practice.
Service Police super-complaints
The SPCC also investigates super-complaints, working with His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS).
The aim of the Service Police super‑complaints system is to identify systemic failures in policing.
Service Police super-complaints are not an alternative way to raise an individual complaint. Only designated bodies are able to make a super-complaint, on behalf of the public, about patterns or trends in Service policing that are, or appear to be, significantly harming the interests of the public.
Four organisations were designated as super-complaints bodies by the Secretary of State for Defence following application. They are:
- Advocacy After Domestic Abuse
- Centre for Military Justice
- Royal Air Force Association
- Salute Her