Police Covenant annual report 2024 (accessible)
Updated 27 March 2024
Applies to England and Wales
© Crown copyright 2024
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-covenant-annual-report-2024/police-covenant-annual-report-2024-accessible
Annual report
Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 1(1) of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
March 2024
© Crown copyright 2024
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3
Where we have identified any third-party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at www.gov.uk/official-documents
Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at policecovenantsecretariat@homeoffice.gov.uk.
ISBN 978-1-5286-4768-7 E03096655 03/24
Executive summary
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which achieved Royal Assent in 2022[footnote 1], laid out the parameters and focus of the Police Covenant. The legislation places a duty on the Home Office to take steps to address detriment suffered by members of the police workforce, their families and those who have left policing relating to their health and wellbeing. The Police Covenant Oversight Board[footnote 2] set eleven initial dynamic priorities for delivery within these parameters and aimed to address clearly identified issues.
The publication of the first annual report[footnote 3] on 22 May 2023 outlined the progress made on those priorities in the first year since the legislation came into effect, signing off three workstreams as complete and laying out the work to be done over the coming year. Since then, the work on the Police Covenant has continued to drive improvements in physical and mental health and wellbeing for everyone covered by the Covenant.
When considering the priorities and their potential impact on the police workforce, the implications for the British Transport Police, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the Ministry of Defence Police and the National Crime Agency were also considered, as were the representations of government departments and other policing organisations. Input from these departments was sought when composing the report, in compliance with the Memorandum of Understanding[footnote 4], to ensure their experiences and achievements are represented.
Building on the hard work and successes of the past year, laid out in detail in this report, the Covenant will continue to enhance the support offered to the workforce as well as break new ground in providing support for those who have left policing and the families of officers and staff.
Priorities completed
Alongside the three completed original priorities, this year has seen three more priorities confirmed as completed. These are: appointing a permanent Chief Medical Officer (CMO) to better link the work of the NHS and the needs of the policing community, training for General Practitioners on the specific needs of the police workforce, and addressing issues around officer and staff roadside safety.
For the first time, a new CMO for Policing has been recruited, bringing together the work of the Covenant with the work of the NHS and driving forward training for GPs which has allowed that priority to be completed. The now well-established Clinical Governance Group (CGG) has defined several areas of focus and has begun to deliver improvements in health and wellbeing provision (see below for further details).
Priorities in progress
As work under each priority workstream has developed and some aspects completed, many of the existing priorities have been refocussed and now contain a revised description of the latest aims. This ensures that each of the priorities remain focussed on delivering for the police workforce on the most relevant and pressing issues, and ensures the effective monitoring of progress being made.
The Service Improvement & Stress Reduction (SISR) programme has begun to address organisational stressors. Three main types of organisational stressors have been identified: hinderance stressors, emotional stressors and wellbeing stressors. This work sits alongside actions coming out of the comprehensive ‘Productivity Review’ recently concluded by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). Initial feedback on the programme has been excellent and a full evaluation will be completed by the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS) to determine if another programme should be funded in future.
HMICFRS agreed to further develop their PEEL Assessment Framework and began increasing the prominence of their inspection questions around Occupational Health standards from Spring 2023. The CGG have also developed a Practitioner Network and are establishing a Good Practice Hub, with regional workshops. All forces achieved Occupational Health (OH) foundation standards in 2023.
Police families have seen a new and bespoke support package developed. Launched in December 2023 by Oscar Kilo, the ‘Thank You’ campaign focussed on recognising the specific challenges that police family members encounter and made a point of thanking them for all that they do to support the workforce. The package currently includes guidance to enhance nutrition, financial management and communication within policing families. Further progress will be made as our knowledge of their needs increases. The Open University will be trialling the development of a ‘family network’. Those who are experiencing bereavement in policing are now able to access specific support through the NPWS. Although thankfully an uncommon occurrence, the loss of a member of the policing family can have a significant impact on their loved ones and their colleagues. The new bereavement support package will help those dealing with loss in both practical and emotional ways.
The next phase of the plans to better communicate the aims and offer from the Police Covenant has now begun. This has focussed on increasing knowledge and awareness of specific offers under the Covenant. Videos relating to peer support have been created by the NPWS to highlight the importance of wellbeing in policing, and further work has been done to better communicate to the families of officers and staff. This work will continue over the next year to maximise awareness.
A meta-analysis capturing consistent issues across all staff association surveys has been carried out by Professor Les Graham at Durham University and a final report has been produced. The findings were presented to members of the Police Covenant Oversight Board (PCOB) and contributing organisations in January 2024. Following feedback from Staff Associations and Trade Unions, policing bodies and frontline members of the police workforce, a combined list of potential areas for the Covenant to tackle and ideas for solutions to issues faced by the workforce was gathered. This long list will help to inform new priorities for the Covenant in 2024/25.
The merger between the National Police Memorial Day and the Police Roll of Honour Trust has brought together the work of two charities, both looking to honour the sacrifice of the police, to create the Police Remembrance Trust. The Home Office will continue to work closely with the Trust to ensure the sacrifice of officers is properly recognised.
For the first time, consistent and expanding support is being provided to those who leave policing as they transition to the next chapter of their lives. New toolkits, including guidance and resources for use by forces, have been delivered for those leaving policing as part of the leavers package. These resources provide help with topics including preparing job applications for those looking to take their skills and experiences gained in policing to the wider workforce, and decompression support for those who are stepping down after long careers. Phase 2 of this work is continuing through 2024, in aim of launching a ‘Leavers Employment Gateway’ by early 2025.
The CGG, under the direction of the CMO, now meets regularly to discuss how the policing and health sectors can better work together to address challenges identified by members of the group. So far, the group has set up workstreams to deliver a National Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Policing, a national framework for healthcare NHS commissioning and toolkits for local NHS commissioning. An accreditation system of healthcare providers will further support this work.
New priorities
Tackling extreme fatigue is a growing area of concern as our understanding develops on how the ever-increasing pressure on our officers and staff impacts them. In response to this, the Home Office has funded the NPWS to launch an innovative project to provide insight and support for officers experiencing symptoms of fatigue in August 2023. The anonymised data provided by the study will allow the NPWS to develop new guidance for forces and individuals. As of January 2024, over 500 officers have taken part in the project.
The NPCC Wellbeing Board, with the support of the College of Policing, has begun the process for creating new Authorised Professional Practice (APP) for Wellbeing. This will raise the standing of wellbeing to be on a par with other professional aspects of policing including investigations and victim support. This will be delivered in the Summer of 2024.
While the original priority on assaults against the police was closed in 2023, issues relating to the monitoring of numbers of cases and the provision of compensation, where appropriate, has subsequently emerged. The Home Office has been working with the NPWS, the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) and others to identify how much additional information can be captured by forces when an assault is recorded. This work will lead to improved data collections enabling forces, staff associations and Trade Unions to better understand the issue of violence perpetrated against the police.
Priorities completed
Chief Medical Officer
Summary of priority
Appointment of a Chief Medical Officer (CMO) - the Oversight Board should consider the benefits of appointing a full time CMO for policing in England and Wales and work with the College to develop a role specification should they deem this necessary.
Progress to date
Following an open recruitment process run by the College of Policing, Professor John Harrison was recruited as the permanent Chief Medical Officer for Policing as of May 2023.
Since taking up the role, Professor Harrison has made progress on a number of fronts, establishing and driving the work of the Clinical Governance Group (CGG).
Planned work
Ongoing and further work by the CMO will be covered under the Clinical Governance Group Workstream priority.
Training for General Practitioners
Summary of priority
Develop training for General Practitioners (GPs) around the role of the police, similar to the military veterans’ GP training.
Progress to date
This workstream has built on work already carried out by the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS) to educate GPs and primary care teams about police health needs. This involved a partnership between the NPWS and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).
The first webinar with the Royal College of General Practitioners on ‘PTSD in the Police: How primary care can help’ was held on 3 May 2022. 143 individuals registered for the webinar and the recording and slides are available on the RCGP’s e-Learning platform. In 2023, a further three screencasts were developed for GPs focussed on: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), fitness to drive and health of the police family.
Building on the success of a joint venture with the RCGP to produce a webinar and on-line training modules, work is in progress to explore accreditation of primary care practice as police aware. This will include further training and evaluation.
Planned work
Ongoing and further work by the CMO will be covered under the Clinical Governance Group Workstream priority.
Officer and Staff Roadside Safety
Summary of priority
Consider wider issues around police officer and staff safety at the roadside and propose options to improve safety (non-legislative). This is alongside engagement with Crown Prosecution Service in relation to the charging of assaults (when using a vehicle as a weapon).
Progress to date
The NPCC Officer and Staff Safety Review (OSSR) included a recommendation for a change in legislation to prohibit an offender from deliberately using, threatening to or attempting to use a vehicle to target members of the police workforce. The Ministry of Justice reviewed the legislation against examples provided by the NPCC and concluded that there is already sufficient legislation in place.
Consideration was given as to whether prosecution guidelines should be amended to reflect concerns that have been raised about officers being intentionally driven at and injured. The Home Office worked with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to encourage them to make changes which will recognise the seriousness of offences which involve using a vehicle against a police officer to increase the safety of officer and staff roadside safety.
The CPS prosecution guidance, published on 2 June 2023, ‘for Road Traffic - Fatal Offences and Bad Driving - The Crown Prosecution Service’ directs prosecutors to consider situations involving the use of a vehicle as a weapon towards all victims, under the headings of “Non-fatal driving offences: using a vehicle as a weapon”, “Causing serious injury by dangerous driving, or by careless or inconsiderate driving”, and “Offences involving a fatality: Murder and Manslaughter”. This assists prosecutors when applying the Code for Crown Prosecutors to select appropriate charges which reflect the nature and seriousness of the offending behaviour and provide the Court with appropriate sentencing powers. It sets out clearly the charging practice, to charge the most serious offences against the person where supported by the evidence when a vehicle is used as a weapon.
Planned work
No further work planned under any other priorities.
Priorities in progress
Organisational stressors
Summary of priority
The Covenant recognises the need to address systemic issues affecting the workforce with specific reference to the data collected in the Front Line Review. A Service Improvement & Stress Reduction (SISR) programme to be delivered to increase knowledge in the area of hindrance stress by November 2023. Findings on organisational stressors to be communication to HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) for inclusion in the Police Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Legitimacy (PEEL) inspection criteria.
Progress to date
The final module of the SISR leadership development course concluded on 6 October 2023 with participants from 28 forces presenting projects focused on how using technology can reduce organisational stress.
The NPCC-led Policing Productivity Review[footnote 5] was published in November 2023 and identified several recommendations linked to organisational stressors. These recommendations are being explored and taken forward by forces and a number of organisations, including the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS).
The 4th Annual National Wellbeing Survey[footnote 6] was completed in October 2023 by Durham University. Over 42,000 responses were analysed and organisational / hindrance stress has been identified as an enduring issue affecting the majority of negative drivers of wellbeing. Several forces have proven they can reverse these trends with investment in frontline leadership development and their learning is being shared across other forces.
Planned work
Initial feedback on the SISR leadership development course has been excellent. Following this, a full evaluation will be completed by the NPWS to determine if another programme should be funded in 2024, and if so what learning can be used to enhance it.
Occupational Health Standards
Summary of priority
Clinical Governance Group (CGG) workstream to develop a better understanding of occupational health landscape and issues to be addressed. To produce a series of guidance to assist Occupational Health (OH) services in assessment of fitness.
Progress to date
Occupational health standards are the foundation stone of good, consistent, and quality-assured practice. Compliance with the standards across all 43 forces will achieve greater consistency in the care of the police workforce and reduce health inequalities.
As the work from the Covenant has highlighted, this consistency has not yet been achieved and there is therefore a need to improve significantly the current and future provision of occupational health in forces in order to ensure a healthier and more motivated workforce.
To help drive greater convergence, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) agreed to further develop their Police Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Legitimacy (PEEL) Assessment Framework and began increasing the prominence of their inspection questions around OH standards from Spring 2023. This has begun to be implemented and should, in time, lead to improvements and consistency in OH provision.
The Clinical Governance Group (CGG) have developed an OH Practitioner Network and are establishing a Good Practice Hub, with OH regional workshops. All forces achieved OH foundation standards in March 2023 which will serve as the baseline from which further improvements can be made.
Planned work
The CMO has since developed enhanced OH standards aligned to Safe Effective Quality Occupational Health Service (SEQOHS). Forces are being supported by the CMO through the OH practitioners’ network to move towards delivering enhanced standards in all forces by 2025.
Ongoing and further work by the CMO will be covered under the Clinical Governance Group Workstream priority.
Support Model for Families Summary of priority
Progress to date:
Phase 1 of the family support package for police families was launched at the Royal Foundation Symposium on 23 November 2023. The initial range of digital products and guidance are based on extensive research completed by the Open University and Kings College London into the needs of the police family. The package includes toolkits, tips and guidance for families of police officers including: sleep, eating well and helping children understand policing.
To ensure the package remains up to date, the NPWS have appointed a families co- ordinator who will support forces between November 2023 and April 2024 in embedding the resources and campaigns, and reaching out to police families.
Supported by the NPCC Workforce Co-ordination Committee, a short survey has been circulated to forces. This aims to understand the current position with regards to writing, updating our knowledge of the impact of “family friendly” policies and where changes might be needed. The outputs of this will inform planning into 2025.
An audit of police charities, conducted by the NPWS, has commenced to understand the support which police families can currently access. The results of the audit will be reported back in April 2024. Oscar Kilo will then signpost to the support and guidance available via the Oscar Kilo website and social channels.
The NPWS launched a ‘Thank you’ campaign dedicated to showing appreciation and an acknowledgement for the sacrifices Police families make for their loved ones and their wider community. This campaign officially went live in December 2023, with a short film to show the sacrifices families make, using real-life scenarios[footnote 7]. The aim was to bring awareness to the issues families face and to give the opportunity for police forces, police officers and police staff to show appreciation for their unwavering support. The NPWS posted about this new campaign on various social media platforms and police forces were encouraged to get involved too, by posting on social media to show public appreciation for their loved ones and to ensure maximum exposure. The NPWS also created downloadable ‘thank you’ postcards that officers and staff can fill in and send to their families and loved ones.
Planned work
A completed and updated force families’ toolkit will be formally launched in Spring 2024. This will detail a raft of “family friendly” interventions which forces can adopt. The toolkit will continue to develop over time, with amendments made as best practice is more widely shared and improvements identified. To ensure the toolkit has a firm evidence base, Oscar Kilo will continue to liaise with Dr Sarah-Jane Lennie, Open University, who conducted the families research. Dr Lennie is currently exploring the development of family networks and when this work concludes its findings will be included in the toolkit.
In March 2024 Oscar Kilo will be launching a children’s campaign to coincide with World Book Day. This campaign includes the Red Robber Raid book, which was originally launched by Norfolk Constabulary to communicate policing to a younger audience. The book, available in hard copy and as a digital download, is supported by a children’s activity book which aims to further increase understanding of the role of the police officer in the child’s life.
Oscar Kilo are currently in the process of producing a Families Programme Plan for 2024/25 and this will be available in March 2024. This will include potential activities and actions for forces to take in relation to supporting policing families.
Communicating the Covenant
Summary of priority
Wider communication will be developed, where appropriate, with the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS) and NHS.
Progress to date
Phase 2 of the communications plan has focussed on increasing knowledge and awareness of specific resources available under the Covenant. The NPWS created several short film videos promoting peer support within policing to highlight the importance of wellbeing in policing. The concept for these videos was to show the first-hand issues officers experience at different stages of their career, with central focus on how conversations with colleagues can improve mental health. These videos have been shared with forces and are helping to educate and inform staff about the importance of social support, line manager awareness and self- awareness. The films also highlight the impact of policing on the families of those serving, bringing forward for the first time at a national level the issues faced by family members.
The Home Office has produced materials for forces to use in advertising and highlighting the Covenant, to improve local awareness. These materials, which include leaflets, banners, posters and social media quote pictures are available in physical and digital formats and are available to be used by all forces for free.
Planned work
Having laid the foundations for raising awareness of the Covenant more widely, the Home Office, the NPWS and other policing partners plan to shift focus to increasing awareness within the policing sector. This will involve more targeted communications, using the materials developed by the Home Office.
Following the decision from the Police Covenant Oversight Board (PCOB), the Home Office agreed to establish how communications about the Police Covenant could feed into more positive reports about the work of police and what the Government is doing to support officers and staff.
As the work in other priorities progress, including on fatigue and the work of the CMO, further communications will be developed to ensure that the police workforce and their families will be aware of, and therefore able to access, the support available to them.
Further work is planned to include Police Covenant communications as part of a drive to highlight positive work within policing.
Engagement with the workforce
Summary of priority
Staff associations to provide a list (annually) of new or developing areas of concern relating to the areas of competence for the Covenant.
Progress to date
An independent study to capture consistent issues across all staff association surveys, the NPWS annual surveys and research was commissioned by the Police Covenant Oversight Board (PCOB) and carried out by Professor Les Graham at Durham University. The subsequent meta-analysis report with key findings laid out was presented to members of the PCOB and contributing organisations in January 2024.
Following feedback from Staff Associations, policing bodies, trade unions and frontline members of the police workforce, a combined list of potential areas for the Covenant to tackle and ideas for solutions to issues faced by the workforce was generated. This featured over 40 different options to consider. The Home Office evaluated these options to find which ones would make a tangible difference to individuals on the front line under the remit of the Covenant with a series of engagement sessions including a workshop attended by subject matter experts.
Following this, the final set of proposals was put to the PCOB for addition to the priorities.
Planned work
As directed by the Oversight Board, the selected ideas have been added within the appropriate existing workstreams, to ensure they can be most effectively incorporated into the Police Covenant.
Where further work is needed to either fully understand the implications of implementing one of the suggestions, or more detail is needed in order to maximise the benefits, the Home Office will work closely with the relevant organisations, including charities, policing bodies and other government departments to ensure they deliver for policing.
These ideas are listed below:
-
a review of Police Treatment Centres – an assessment of the funding models which underpin the Police Treatment Centres (PTCs) to fully understand the sustainability risks moving forward
-
removing transfer barriers – assessing what can be done under the remit of the Covenant to reduce unnecessary barriers to transfers, particularly between forces
-
protected decompression time – the potential for formal arrangements ensuring suitable decompression time is provided for officers and stuff experiencing a traumatic event
-
commitment to leave – ensuring that officers and staff take the leave days they are entitled to and that any cancelled rest days are taken in lieu at a later date.
-
support staff for police family victims of crime – providing specific support and potentially training for staff dealing with police family victims of crime, particularly those who are victims of police perpetrated crime
-
family engagement board – a board where family members can raise any issues they may have, and where the force can engage with them directly in order to ensure they remain better informed as to why their loved ones are asked to do what they do
-
mental health guidance for family members – guidance for families to help them identify any mental health issues in their loved ones and how to help them, or seek support
-
police family wellbeing sessions – to help new and retired officers with family counselling
Honours and memorials
Summary of priority
To develop proposals for a new medal for police staff and explore the feasibility of creating such a medal.
Increase the number of police officers and staff being considered for gallantry awards.
To create clear guidance for forfeiture to ensure the integrity of the awards are maintained.
Progress to date
The recent sector-led merger between the National Police Memorial Day and the Police Roll of Honour Trust has brought together the work of two charities both looking to honour the sacrifice of the police. The newly created Police Remembrance Trust, established by Royal Charter, will ensure greater focus and coordination of police memorial events.
The Home Office ran several workshops throughout the year which include lunch and learn sessions as well as in depth citation writing workshops to support forces with the nomination process for awards, medals and recognition. The uptake for these sessions was very successful, with around 15-20 force representatives in attendance. These sessions highlight (1) why we nominate (2) who we nominate (3) who to consult before making nominations (4) how to write competitive citations.
Planned work
The Home Office will continue to organise and advertise regular honours workshops for police forces and other policing bodies to attend.
UNISON and the NPCC Workforce Coordination Committee have been working on a proposal for the Home Office to consider on the creation of a new national award for police staff to recognise long service and good conduct. The Police Staff Council for England and Wales has obtained information from forces of the likely number of police staff recipients for the new award and forwarded this to the Home Office to enable the proposal to be costed. The Home Office is now working on these figures and will respond with further suggestions for a potential formal proposal.
Several changes to the wider medals landscape, including new effigies and titles for existing awards, has resulted in increasing confusion around the processes relating to nomination for and awarding of policing medals. In order to increase force level confidence of dealing with business-as-usual queries around police special medals and bars the Home Office will circulate an updated ‘Medal/Bar Ordering Guidance’, which should reduce waiting times and improving service provision.
Support for police leavers
Summary of priority
Develop transition package or ‘flight path’ for forces to use when officers and staff are leaving the force and deliver ‘off-boarding’ support by November 2023.
Progress to date
Oscar Kilo have been compiling a Leavers package aimed primarily at retirees. They have now completed the first phase of the Leavers Guide, following the ‘flight path’ introduced earlier in 2023. It focuses on supporting officers and staff to transition from a career in policing. It has tools that help navigate next steps including, preparation of a CV, how to create digital profiles, interview preparation, the benefits of volunteering and, most importantly, how to manage the specific mental health challenges faced by those transitioning out of the service. The guide will be available to download from the Oscar Kilo website in Spring 2024.
Work is now underway to create digital content for the ‘Leavers’ campaign which launched in February 2023.
To further support transition from the police service, a piece of research has been commissioned by Oscar Kilo to explore the employment routes taken by leavers. This research is expected to report back in April 2024.
Planned work
The Oscar Kilo research currently in progress will inform the feasibility of developing a Leavers Employment Gateway, a 2024 deliverable providing products for forces to support leavers as they transition out into employment from chief officers to frontline. The gateway will further match leavers with employers. This is a new opportunity to increase organisational support, initially being focused on ‘end of service’ cohorts.
The requirements and associated project plan are currently being worked on by the NPWS, with more details being made available in Spring 2024. The Gateway will be included as part of the overall 2024/25 Leavers Programme Plan.
Clinical Governance Group workstream
Summary of priority
Clinical Governance Group workstream to develop a national health and wellbeing strategy for policing and an accredited healthcare provision.
Progress to date
The 2023 Police Covenant Annual Report contained the ‘NHS Engagement’ priority workstream which set out the aim of “scoping of the current support in place in relation to healthcare pathways for the police workforce and identify where the gaps are across a number of health and wellbeing issues and establish a proposal for ensuring consistent support nationally”. The Covenant Clinical Governance Group (CGG) workstream was established in November 2022 by the CMO and has replaced the original ‘NHS Engagement’ priority. The CGG’s remit is to drive systems change and to ensure that clinical interventions are both needs and evidence-based. Care pathways for the police workforce are dependent on timely access to appropriate healthcare provision. This will be mainly from the NHS, although the voluntary sector and private healthcare has a role to play.
The CGG, chaired by the CMO, has met every 6 weeks over the last year, engaging with the health sector to work through challenges identified by members of the group. The Group have also agreed to deliver a national health and wellbeing strategy, a national framework for healthcare NHS commissioning and toolkits for local NHS commissioning. To help implement these initiatives, an accreditation system of healthcare providers will support this work. The Home Office will continue to advocate across Government for this work to be progressed.
A commissioning toolkit has been developed which will underpin the engagement between police chief officer teams and local NHS commissioning bodies to explore the existing support provided by local healthcare providers to the police workforce. This process assists forces in securing commissioning support for gaps in OH provision by tapping into existing Integrated Care Board requirements. In order to ensure this works effectively, the CMO commissioned pilots for the toolkit in three forces (two in England and one in Wales), planned to run through 2023/24 with a view to being adopted in all forces in the future.
Planned work
The NPWS and the CMO will continue to drive and evaluate the pilot work in the three forces. Once they are completed, and any modifications made, the toolkit will be rolled out to the rest of policing.
Work is underway to develop a national model for assessing health needs for policing. The development of the model will be overseen by the NPCC Health and Wellbeing Board, reporting to the Workforce Coordination Committee and to the NPCC.
The NPWS is developing a ‘Police Health Observatory’ capability within the CGG to provide evidence-based, data driven analysis to inform strategic workforce health challenges and priorities. Using available data, the Observatory aims to identify trends and provide organisational insights by combining force data with Office for National Statistics (ONS) public health data.
With the support of the NHS England and the National Commissioning Board for Wales, further engagement is planned with the respective Royal Colleges for GPs and Psychiatry to further raise awareness of the health needs of the police workforce and to explore an accreditation process akin to that available for military veterans.
This will be scoped and developed with a view to beginning delivery in 2025.
Further future outputs planned for the Clinical Governance Group to deliver include: an e-learning package for GPs, an e-learning package for mental health clinicians and clinical and organisational care standards for primary care and mental health services.
New priorities
Tackling fatigue
Summary of priority
To establish sleep fatigue and recovery support for everyone in policing and a fatigue risk management strategy in all forces.
Progress to date
Sleep, fatigue and recovery have been raised as a concern for many officers through staff engagement and wellbeing survey data. In response to this, the Home Office funded the NPWS to launch a new unique project to provide insight and support for officers experiencing symptoms of fatigue. The fatigue project launched in August 2023, in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University. Those who take part in the project are provided with wrist-based sensor devices developed specifically for the police, which focus on fatigue and recovery. Officers who join the study also benefit from a 120-day programme designed by leading experts. Phase 2 of the study is underway, with 10-12 forces expected to take part and officers from a number of ‘high-fatigue’ front line roles volunteering to join (mostly investigators, response and firearm teams). By January 2024 over 500 officers had taken part.
In November 2023, the NPWS also launched a new training package for fatigue risk management which is available digitally to all those working across policing.
Planned work
As the sleep and fatigue recovery programme progresses, the data insights will be used to present high level anonymised findings back to policing through a partnership with Liverpool John Moores University and the CMO. The data insights will also allow for further fatigue risk management guidance. Planning for Phase 3 of the study is ongoing with the intention to continue expanding the course to more forces and officers in the future.
Authorised Professional Practice
Summary of priority
Develop and implement an Authorised Professional Practice for wellbeing, putting it on the same footing as operational standards.
Progress to date
Chief Constable (CC) Chris Rowley and the NPCC Wellbeing Board, with the support of the College of Policing (CoP), have begun the process for creating a new Authorised Professional Practice (APP) for wellbeing. This has now been drafted for assessment and onward progression through the APP agreement process.
The APP provides a clear wellbeing standard for all forces and wider stakeholders to deliver which is informed by research and engagement with the front line. It sets out the governance and legal framework for wellbeing practice and the occupational health standards set by the CoP. It also summarises the priority interventions that are expected and required across forces for all officers and staff as well as role- specific interventions such as operations and firearms.
Once in place, it will sit alongside the national wellbeing strategy. CC Rowley’s group is working with the CMO on this strategy which will help provide greater consistency of approach, with more coherent outcomes.
Planned work
Implementation of the APP is the ultimate aim of this work. A delivery plan to socialise the APP with forces and to liaise with HMICFRS is scheduled for 2024.
Operation Hampshire: assaults against officers and staff
Summary of priority
To deliver an assaults plan across forces and collect accurate and enhanced assaults data through NPCC and/or the Home Office Annual Data Requirement.
Progress to date
The majority of actions for Operation Hampshire were completed last year, and are at an advanced stage, being embedded in to be business as usual.
Under the existing Annual Data Requirement, information is collected on the aggregate number of assaults committed against an officer or member of police staff and whether they are with/without injury. Throughout 2023, the Home Office, the NPWS, the NPCC and UNISON have worked closely to enhance the existing data collection on police assaults. An initial pilot of assaults data collection through the NPCC assessed the ability of forces to return a total of 18 data metrics which provided details about the assault, however many forces provided only partial returns. Following further work, the Home Office enhanced the existing data collection by including an additional 7 mandatory assaults data metric requests and 11 voluntary returns through the Annual Data Requirement. This will result in more data and insights into assaults being collected at a national level than ever before and inform future policy and initiatives.
Planned work
Although the original priority is now closed, the actions that will be taken forward will now come under this new re-purposed priority relating to effective monitoring of assaults as official statistics.
The NPWS are identifying a significant volume of assaults into the data insight dashboards which in time will improve the understanding of assaults so that preventative measures can be taken. Several forces already do this to a high standard, but this is not a consistent practice in all forces, meaning there is limited visibility at a national level to help influence policy and training.
Operation Hampshire leads in the NPWS are also exploring issues relating to perceived lower attrition rates in the criminal justice system and concerns from staff associations about criminal injuries compensation dilution for police officers and staff.
Suicide prevention
Summary of priority
Reducing the number of officers and staff committing suicide, both in active service and those that have left policing.
Progress to date
There is a well-established Suicide Prevention Working Group, made up of relevant professionals, reporting into the CMO. Progress continues to be made, building on the national suicide consensus agreed in February 2022 and the post-intervention toolkit created in partnership with Samaritans.
Bereavement counselling provision is in place for close colleagues and family members of those bereaved by suicide. This can be called in by Occupational Health or a Family Liaison Officer.
Planned work
The Home Office have funded the establishment and a first-year trial of a national mental health crisis line which will be available 24/7 365 days a year specifically for police officers and staff who are experiencing a crisis. The objective is to have this in place from April 2024 with the aim of continuing this service, depending on the level of uptake and demand.
Welsh Emergency Services Covenant
Delivering the Police Covenant in Wales
Wales is taking a unique approach to the development of the Police Covenant that takes account of Welsh Government’s devolved responsibility for Fire and Rescue Services. This approach also reflects that many of the services involved in realising the Covenant such as health, social care, education and housing are also devolved to Wales.
The proposal for an Emergency Services Covenant in Wales seeks to complement and work alongside the development of the Police Covenant within UK Government legislation. In this context, they are working with partners to explore the opportunity to develop a broader Emergency Services Covenant in Wales. This could cover policing, fire and rescue services and emergency healthcare services.
In line with the Armed Forces Covenant, the approach to the Police Covenant and Emergency Services Covenant in Wales will focus on parity of access to services and ensuring that staff, ex-staff and their families are not at a disadvantage. The Covenant also provides an opportunity to reflect on employers’ existing responsibilities for the health and wellbeing of their staff, and to help them fulfil those responsibilities as effectively as possible. Meetings have been held with Police and Military leads to discuss how the Armed Services Covenant was established, how they navigated the process and any learning that could be shared to inform work on the Emergency Services Covenant in Wales.
Following initial meetings between the Welsh Government and Policing in Wales, and a discussion at the Policing Partnership Board for Wales, work on the Covenant is now being taken forward through the Joint Emergency Services Group (JESG) which includes Chief Officers from all emergency services in Wales. The project will be led by a dedicated working group supported by a coordinator. Terms of reference have been agreed for the group and work is ongoing on arranging a first meeting.
The Welsh Government is a member of the group alongside policing and operational partners.
Ahead of the first meeting, the coordinator is exploring the potential for academic support to scope what the Emergency Services Covenant in Wales could look like and the practical elements that could be included to support Emergency Services workers.
Developing a new Covenant for Wales will need time and focus. At this stage Welsh Government, Policing in Wales and other Wales stakeholders are working together to scope what the Covenant would mean for their services and the staff who may benefit from it.
Progress to explore the possibility of a broader Emergency Services Covenant in Wales is overseen by the JESG and reported back to the Policing Partnership Board for Wales. Progress will also be reflected in future Annual Reports.
The government departments involved in the implementation of the Police Covenant agreed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in March 2023. This lays out the evidence gathering process for the annual report relating to the specialised experiences of the British Transport Police, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and the Ministry of Defence Police. The devolved administrations will also be consulted throughout.
The signed MoU can be accessed on GOV.UK.
The MoU has been reviewed by relevant departments, organisations and devolved governments for this Annual Report with no amendments proposed.
Annex A: relevant links
Police Covenant legislation
Police Covenant webpage
Police Covenant pledge
Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU)
Police Covenant origins
The National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS)
*Wellbeing, College of Policing
Productivity Review
Police Covenant Report (2023)
Support options available
Annex B: acronym glossary
| Acronym | Term |
|---|---|
| APP | Authorised Professional Practice |
| CC | Chief Constable |
| CGG | Clinical Governance Group |
| CMO | Chief Medical Officer |
| CoP | College of Policing |
| CPS | Crown Prosecution Service |
| GP | General Practitioner |
| HMICFRS | His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services |
| JESG | Joint Emergency Services Group |
| LSGCM | [Police] Long Service Good Conduct Medal |
| MoU | Memorandum of Understanding |
| NHS | National Health Service |
| NPCC | National Police Chiefs’ Council |
| NPWS | The National Police Wellbeing Service (also known as, Oscar Kilo) |
| OH | Occupational Health |
| ONS | Office for National Statistics |
| OSSR | Officer and Staff Safety Review |
| PCOB | Police Covenant Oversight Board |
| PEEL | Police Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Legitimacy |
| PFEW | Police Federation of England and Wales |
| PTC | Police Treatment Centre |
| PTSD | Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder |
| RCGP | Royal College of General Practitioners |
| SEQOHS | Safe Effective Quality Occupational Health Service |
| SISR | Service Improvement Stress Reduction |
Annex C: Police Covenant background
The Police Covenant is a pledge to do more as a nation to help those who serve this country and specifically to recognise the bravery, commitment, and sacrifices of those who work or have worked in policing.
The Covenant aims to ensure that members or former members of the police workforce in England and Wales are not disadvantaged as a result of working in policing.
The Covenant is a recognition by government, policing and society as a whole, acknowledging the sacrifices made by those who work or have previously worked in our police forces.
It is intended to ensure that officers, staff, volunteers and their families are not disadvantaged as a result of their service in the police and seeks to mitigate the impact that this may have on day-to-day life.
In practical terms the Covenant will:
- place a legal requirement on the government to report annually to Parliament on issues relating to police welfare, wellbeing and support
- aim to improve the working experience of people in policing
- help smooth the transition out of policing for police leavers
- provide support to the families of those working in policing
In July 2022, chief officers from every force in England and Wales came together to agree a ‘Police Covenant Pledge’. This pledge confirms their ongoing support for the aims of the Covenant and work that comes with it.
As Chief Constable / Commissioner I fully support the principles and purpose of the Police Covenant. For the first time in the history of policing we have an opportunity to build a national commitment which will initially prioritise the physical protection, health & wellbeing of those who work in policing and also, in time, support for their families. The Covenant priorities will always be informed by the voices of the workforce as well as research and I will continue to play my part in ensuring the priorities are translated into meaningful change at force level. Importantly, the Covenant will provide us with an opportunity to share the challenges of policing more widely across Government so that we can build support and recognition for the vitally important contribution of police officers and staff as they work tirelessly to keep us safe.
-
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk) ↩
-
Police Covenant Oversight Board minutes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ↩
-
Police Covenant annual report 2023 (accessible) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ↩
-
Police Covenant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ↩
-
Oscar Kilo thank you film (YouTube) Oscar Kilo thank you film - YouTube ↩