Corporate report

Police Covenant annual report 2023 (accessible)

Updated 24 May 2023

Police Covenant report 2023

Annual report

Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 1(1) of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.

May 2023

© Crown copyright 2023

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ISBN 978-1-5286-4080-0 E02903373 05/23

At the first Police Covenant Oversight Board, eleven priorities were agreed within the parameters set out in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. The primary focus of the Covenant is on ensuring the health and wellbeing of members and former members of the police workforce, their physical protection and the support required by members of their families. When considering the 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.

Through the leads for each priority, the Home Office, the police and our partner agencies, the Covenant has driven and will continue to drive work to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of the police workforce. As a result of the work that has now been delivered, new officers are receiving training in mental health resilience, members of the workforce who are the victim of assaults will be properly supported, and forces will soon be held to account for their performance in occupation health standards. Building on the successes of the past year, laid out in detail in this report, the Covenant will continue to increase the levels of 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

Of the original eleven priorities, three have now been completed and signed off by the Oversight Board. The work under the Covenant to consider the issues raised in the Officer and Staff Safety Review have been met through the changes to legislation around assaults on emergency workers brought in by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. The workstream to support forces to put in place Operation Hampshire relating to assaults against officers and staff has also been implemented, with data collection on these assaults now a key part of recording practices. The third and final completed area of work is the inclusion of mental health training for new officers in initial training, as part of the Policing Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF) developed by the College of Policing.

Priorities in progress

Clear progress has been made over the remaining nine priorities over the last year. Following the work of the Front Line Review, work has been progressed on identifying and tackling organisational stressors to help reduce unnecessary demands on officers and staff. To keep track of progress on this work, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) will be reviewing wellbeing and occupational health in their annual PEEL inspection programme this year (2023).

The Covenant, for the first time, has begun to assess the needs of police families. Research into the needs of family members has been commissioned by the College of Policing and is due to begin formally reporting in the spring of 2023.

In order for all those who are covered by the Covenant to be aware of what it will offer to them, the Home Office and the College of Policing have begun to implement a communications plan to explain the work that underpins it and what tangible benefits this will provide. This has included consulting stakeholders on branding and messaging to ensure that we reach a wide audience as the Covenant develops. The National Police Chiefs’ Council, on behalf of all Chief Constables, has also publicly pledged to support the aims and outcomes of the Covenant, confirming this commitment at the Police Bravery Awards in July 2022.

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), the Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA) and Unison in partnership with Chief Constable Chris Rowley, the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS), the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the other members of the Oversight Board are working to identify any gaps in the current priorities for issues that are related to the Covenant, which currently fall outside of its scope. Through a report presented to the Oversight Board in January 2023, the Staff Associations and other policing bodies have begun work on suggestions to how the Covenant can improve the lives of their members and to highlight linked issues which are being tackled through frameworks outside of the Covenant.

The need to address issues relating to the physical and mental health of the police workforce is a key component of the ongoing work. To that end, the College of Policing have begun the recruitment process for a Chief Medical Officer for policing.

Meanwhile an interim, Professor John Harrison, is currently in the role, until a substantive post holder is appointed in April 2023. A Clinical Governance Group, supported by medical, scientific and policy experts, has been created to support the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and make progress on work on occupational health standards and suicide prevention.

Training for General Practitioners on the specific needs of patients from the police workforce has also been delivered with more training sessions planned for 2023 and 2024.

The honours and memorials landscape has been reviewed to ensure that the police workforce are adequately recognised and rewarded for their role in keeping the public safe. The Home Office has completed a research project identifying what forces are doing in the area of honours and medals. Further work is planned to increase the use of the honours system and to take steps to improve the process for forfeiture to guard against any risk of denigration of the value of medals and honours. The Home Office will, in October 2023, also consider proposals for enhancing the awards structure for police staff, including considering whether new formal medals should be created.

New priorities

In order to adapt to the needs of a changing police workforce and the changing circumstances of police work, the Covenant needs to continue to identify new areas of work and new priorities. For 2023/24, three new areas of work have been agreed by the Oversight Board:

• identify and implement a package of measures for individuals who have left the police workforce

• scope the current support in place in relation to healthcare pathways for the police workforce through further NHS Engagement

• consider wider issues around police officer and staff safety at the roadside and propose non legislative options to improve safety

The Oversight Board will continue to review all priorities throughout the year to consider any further points to add, or the potential combining of priorities.

Priorities completed

Officer and Staff Safety Review

Summary of priority

To consider Officer and Staff Safety Review (OSSR) recommendations on assaults using a vehicle and concerns around spitting and exposure to blood-borne viruses.

Progress to date:

In 2019, the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) commissioned a full-scale review of officer and staff safety. The review was commissioned in response to concerns about rising assaults and increased violence against officers. This work, which was published in September 2020 and was based on the views gathered from over 40,000 officers and staff in a national safety survey. It identified a number of recommendations two of which have been considered under this strand of the work of the Police Covenant (the full results and recommendations can be found via this link).

Recommendation 2.1 from the Officer and Staff Safety Review (OSSR) to tackle assaults against officers and staff is addressed under a separate priority.

Recommendation 3.5 of the OSSR recommended that a new offence be created to specifically cover the use of a vehicle in assaults on police officers. The OSSR project team built a rationale for this proposed change, including providing 26 examples of assaults from across the country, and worked with the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to see if current legislation adequately reflected the seriousness of these offences. Though all were in agreement that these were heinous acts, the Government and the OSSR project team were satisfied that this type of offence is sufficiently covered by existing legislation. The OSSR project team will continue to monitor the situation and will provide more examples of this type of offence happening, focusing on the criminal justice outcomes to ensure the law is being applied rigorously.

Recommendation 9.2 of the OSSR recommended two separate actions relating to assaults against officers. Part 1 aimed to create a new culpability factor of the offence of ‘assault on an emergency worker’ where there is a threat or intent to transmit a disease. This was agreed by Government and Sentencing Council and has been included in the sentencing guidelines for the Assault on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018, under Section 1 common assault and battery.

Part 2 related to compelling an offender to provide a blood sample to ultimately rule out any risk of a disease having transmitted. Having carefully considered the impact both on the officers involved and on the individual rights of the offender it was agreed that there is no sufficient rationale for compelling an offender to provide a blood sample. In order to improve safety, the relevant NPCC lead highlighted to Chief Constables, to make them aware of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) leaflet, which has been produced to support the Public Health England guidance on Blood Borne Viruses.

Planned work:

Progress on these recommendations will be monitored on an ongoing basis by the Police Covenant Oversight Board and Delivery Group.

Assaults plan

Summary of priority

The Covenant includes the requirement for all forces to put the assaults plan into place by March 2022 and be able to report progress annually. The NPCC to consider a rollout of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) data collection solution for Operation Hampshire or a suitable alternative.

Progress to date:

Though assaults against police officers and staff are offences under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018, and are punishable by up to 2 years in prison. These incidents have not always been pursued and punished as rigorously as they should be. It is important to make clear that these experiences should never be assumed to be ‘part of the job’.

To rectify this and to address recommendation 2.1 from the OSSR, forces have adopted the PFEW’s seven-point investigation plan for dealing with assaults against the police and have begun collecting detailed data in order to begin to assess the size of the problem.

Officers and staff are encouraged to report any assaults they experience and should also expect to be treated in the same way as a member of the public who has been assaulted. Operation Hampshire, a national project providing a comprehensive response to police assaults, is changing the culture in support of our officers and staff by considering the impact and reacting accordingly to the individual’s needs.

The 365 PowerApp, available to all forces since March 2022, provides a single platform for national data capture and has been trialled in the City of London with success. Phase 1 of the App is now available in the Police Digital Service (PDS) Directory. PDS and National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS) (in the College of Policing) held three roll-out workshops in March 2022 with over 80 representatives from forces.

A number of forces are already recording assaults data, therefore it may take some time to migrate to the 365 PowerApp. A decision is yet to be made on how often a national data request will be distributed to forces and who will take ownership of the data collected. This is being progressed by the OSSR phase 2 lead, who is preparing a paper that will make recommendations to the Chief Constables’ Council. Phase 2 will thereafter be funded by NPWS with death, serious injury, suicide and reporting Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences (RIDDOR) built in.

A set of questions have been assembled for the data request, regarding Operation Hampshire assaults. This is being requested to obtain baseline data for the 12 months between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022. The result from this will enable us to assess current recording levels and identify where forces need additional support prior to any additional detail in the Annual Data Requirement being agreed.

As part of their rolling programme of annual inspections for 2023, HMICFRS will be considering if a force provides a good range of preventative and supportive wellbeing measures, including enhanced support to those in high-risk roles or those experiencing potentially traumatic incidents.

Planned work:

Though this has now been marked as completed, HMICFRS, the Home Office and the College of Policing will be actively monitoring progress on this priority. Should further issues be identified the priority will be re-opened.

Pre-deployment mental health support

Summary of priority

Develop the pre-deployment mental health support provided to the police workforce, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and effect this will have had on the police workforce.

Progress to date:

Provision of ‘Mental Health Awareness in the Police Service’ training for all new starters has now been rolled into the police training framework. These courses, alongside refreshers for existing employees, managers and leaders, enable officers and staff to recognise signs and symptoms of mental health issues in themselves and others and to understand routes for signposting. This will help develop a ‘bottom-up’ improvement in the workforce response to colleagues’ trauma and will help reduce the stigma still too-often associated with mental health issues. This will sit alongside the development of a top- down approach to engender a broader wellbeing culture within policing.

Mental health training within the new Policing Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF) has been implemented as part of the wider curriculum with checks in place to ensure this is being delivered correctly. The collaboration between academic providers and forces ensures that both are under an obligation to deliver the training and to share where they mapped this into their programmes through the assessment panels.

Alongside the pre-deployment work, the College of Policing has embedded wellbeing and resilience lessons from the Front Line Leadership Development Programme (FLLDP) into the Tutor Constable curriculum following success on the FLLDP pilot. This ensures those with key roles in the development of the next generation of officers are also encouraged to be approachable and well informed about workforce mental health issues.

The College engaged with the Higher Education community at a good practice event in March 2022 to identify and share good practice in this area. The College also ran knowledge and good practice events to promote the interaction between the PEQF and the Police Covenant, the importance of wellbeing, resilience and support. Based on the feedback that these events were successful,, more engagement sessions are planned for 2023/24.

Planned work:

The precise nature of the training will remain under review to ensure it remains effective. Further work under different priorities will focus on mental health training and support for other cohorts covered by the Covenant.

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. Work should be undertaken to capture these barriers to achieving meaningful work under the title ‘Organisational Stressors Internal / External’ in collaboration with the relevant policy leads at the Home Office. Once identified they can be communicated to HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Fire and Rescue Service (HMICFRS) for inclusion in PEEL inspection criteria.

Progress to date:

The Front Line Review is a Home Office initiative launched in May 2018. The Review was designed to capture ideas for improvements and change directly from the front line - from constable to superintending ranks, police staff, community support officers and members of the special constabulary.

One of the key issues identified was the need to tackle additional pressures placed on officers and staff which were not directly related to their role in policing. These additional pressures, termed ‘organisational stressors’ for the purposes of the Police Covenant, can result in greater workplace stress, reduced productivity and poor job satisfaction.

The National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS) have established a highly innovative 12-18 month Service Improvement Stress Reduction (SISR) programme which commenced in November 2022. This programme will identify technology and data solutions which are proven to improve service whilst removing additional unnecessary stressors. A senior leadership group representing all forces will be invited to learn about the potential of the projects, all of which are already being used in forces or other sectors. For example, some of the Chief Scientific Advisor’s research grants present a potential opportunity to share learning and accelerate wider adoption.

As part of PEEL 2023, HMICFRS, who sit on the Police Covenant Oversight Board, will be looking at how well forces are addressing the drivers of hindrance stressors such as how well forces consider wellbeing in demand management decisions.

Planned work:

A new workstream has been established within the NPWS to accelerate innovations by November 2023 which specifically address additional unnecessary stressors in policing. This work, which is important to improve both the job satisfaction of officers and staff and the public perception of policing, will tie into wider work of the NPCC around operational requirements.

The Senior Leadership cohort, representing all forces, will be invited to take part in the 2023 SISR programme. This will involve the following:

• Module 1- Provide the time and completion of 8 hours pre course work (April 2023).

• Module 2- Attendance at the residential training programme at the Open University Campus at Milton Keynes (Tuesday 25th April to Friday 28th April 2023).

• Module 3- Apply the learning on a practical project/issue.

• Module 4- Attendance at the residential training programme at the Open University Campus at Milton Keynes (Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th October 2023).

• Completion of the programme Evaluation (Dec 2023).

Following an action raised in the Oversight Board, the NPWS have made contact with those working on the Operational Productivity of Policing Review and will explore ways to tie in the Covenant.

Occupational health standards

Summary of priority

HMICFRS are asked to include occupational health (OH) standards in the PEEL legitimacy pillar, requiring forces to have completed a self-assessment by March 2021 and to have identified a plan to meet the foundation standards by March 2022.

Progress to date:

There is a need to significantly improve the current and future provision of occupational health in forces in order to ensure a healthier and more motivated workforce. Other public sector workforces are also prioritising occupational health for the same reasons.

HMICFRS have agreed to further develop their PEEL Assessment Framework and will be increasing the prominence of their inspection questions around OH standards from Spring 2023. In advance of the inspection programme beginning, the NPWS has taken steps to support occupational health teams to make improvements. The NPWS ran a 3-day workshop in November 2022, attended by over 30 forces, where the clinical team provided detailed advice and support for Occupational Health (OH) teams. The aim of this workshop was to provide specialist guidance on the standards and share good practice from those forces who are compliant.

This priority is also linked to the new ‘NHS engagement’ priority workstream which will be taken forward by the NPWS and the Chief Medical Officer.

Planned work:

The HMICFRS inspections from April 2023 will look at whether the force’s occupational health service provides support and interventions that improve officer and staff wellbeing.

Welsh forces, led by Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan, are now exploring further work with NHS Wales and Welsh Government partners supported by the NPWS. Welsh forces have completed a business case to evidence the need for NHS support, drawing on data from Occupational Health baseline assessments, National Police Wellbeing and Inclusion Survey, the NPWS Blue Light Self-Assessment frameworks and other relevant research. This is progressing through their police partnership board and may present a blueprint for English forces in due course. We expect a commissioning toolkit to be completed by the NPWS with associated training support by December 2023.

Support model for families

Summary of priority

NPCC to commission a review into what a good support model for families looks like, drawing on established good practice and research from other sectors and international partners. Once agreed, forces to be required to implement locally bespoke support structures to their local infrastructure.

Progress to date:

Open University and Kings College London are currently conducting research into the needs of police families. The key aims of this study are to:

• explore with police families the influence of police work on the wellbeing of families, including resilience, coping and sources of support

• understand how work stress influences family functioning and dynamics among policing families

• identify key areas of need in terms of family support

The research is currently at an advanced stage and will report findings back to the NPWS in Spring 2023. Phase 1 of the research, which will help identify specific needs for families, will help form the basis of an update on this priority at a future Oversight Board. Phase 2 of the research, which is ongoing, will focus instead on engaging directly with families to understand their lived experience and how these individuals can be helped through the Covenant.

The Home Office have also engaged directly with the families of officers and staff through a series of meetings convened by the Policing Minister. These discussions raised issues around the impacts of shift work on family lives and of the impact the complaints and discipline processes can have on the extended family. These observations have been fed into the support model being developed by the NPWS.

The NPWS have begun offering bereavement counselling to the police and their families in January 2023, through the North Yorkshire Hospice Care’s ‘JustB’ service who have extensive experience in this field. The service is available to the immediate family of serving officers and staff who have taken their own lives or been killed while on duty. It is also available to close colleagues if they feel it would be helpful. Families affected by bereavement can be referred into longer term provision outside of policing should that be appropriate.

Planned work:

Parallel to the research on ‘needs’, the NPWS are in the process of appointing suitable researchers for further investigations into existing provision. This work is being led by a dedicated families and leavers coordinator in the NPWS. This research, which is similar to

the completed bereavement counselling work, will aim to identify what is available to families, what the level of take-up is, how successful the provision is and where there are gaps. This work, coupled with the research on ‘needs’, will provide a complete picture for the next phase of work on this priority.

As of January 2023,The NPWS has also created a set of requirements for the development of a suite of digital products in line with international good practice. The NPWS have identified a strategic lead for the families workstream and the digital products are being progressed.

Work will also be undertaken to consider access for families to Employee Assistance Programmes which are available in some forces.

Communicating the Covenant

Summary of priority

Consideration is given to capturing the related programmes as part of the communications plan for the covenant so the workforce can see evidence of action whilst also feeling confident that outstanding issues are being addressed.

Progress to date:

On the launch of the Covenant, the communications programme was heavily focussed on two main areas of work: increasing awareness of the Covenant and demonstrating support within policing for the Covenant.

In order to do this, the Home Office communications team developed a Police Covenant brand in July 2022, alongside targeted communications materials aimed at the police workforce in order to increase awareness and understanding of the Covenant.

The NPCC, working closely with the Home Office and other key stakeholders, finalised a Pledge^{[footnote 1]} on 14 July 2022. This declaration, agreed by chief officers in all forces operating in England and Wales, made clear each force’s intention to implement the recommendations coming out of the Covenant and to stay true to its purpose in supporting their officers, staff and families.

Planned work:

Phase two of the communications plan has begun and will include a focus on increasing knowledge and awareness of specific offers under the Covenant. Videos relating to peer support work will be created in June 2023 and will focus on highlighting the mental health benefits of conversations with colleagues.

Furthermore, in 2023, the Home Office will begin developing initiatives to improve local awareness of the Covenant within forces. This will be done using posters and leaflets, giving further information about the Covenant, which will be dispersed into police stations and intranet pages for staff and officers to view or access easily.

Wider communication will also be developed by September 2023, where appropriate, in partnership with the NPWS and the NHS to improve engagement on the already delivered aspects of the Covenant relating to physical and mental health.

As the work in other priorities develops, including on families and the appointment of a Chief Medical Officer, further communications will be developed by November 2023 to ensure that the police workforce and their families will be aware of, and therefore able to access, the support available to them.

Engagement with the workforce

Summary of priority

There are a range of issues that are outside of the remit of the Covenant that, nevertheless, interact with issues within scope and impact on the police workforce and their families. These may include, but are not limited to, remuneration, diversity and inclusion and the handling of police conduct issues. A summary of the key issues raised by staff associations and unions should be captured so that accountability for addressing them is clearly set out and visible to the workforce.

Progress to date:

Staff Associations are invited to attend the monthly Police Covenant Delivery Group (PCDG) checkpoints and quarterly PCDG meetings.

The NPWS held a Covenant Round Table on 29 September 2022 with Staff Associations and unions to seek their views on current and suggested Covenant activities in relation to this priority. A paper highlighting the topics discussed in the roundtable was presented at the Oversight Board in January 2023.

Planned work:

The Staff Associations arranged a roundtable discussion in September 2022, outlining new and expanded workstreams that are important to their members for the Covenant to take up, as well as reviewing the position of existing work streams they felt were not progressing with consistency across the country. Following the suggestions made via these roundtables, the bodies involved in the Covenant will continue to assess progress and whether to adopt specific recommendations made under this priority. As the lead staff association to feed the findings back to the Oversight Board from the roundtable discussion, the Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA) will continue to engage with associations to monitor progress and identify gaps to bridge, ensuring the Covenant meets the needs and requirements of the workforce with measurable outcomes. The Police Covenant Oversight Board and Delivery Group will receive regular updates on this activity.

Chief medical officer

Summary of priority

Appointment of a Chief Medical Officer - the Oversight Board should consider the benefits of appointing a full time Chief Medical Officer for policing in England and Wales and work with the College to develop a role specification should they deem this necessary.

Progress to date:

The Police Covenant Oversight Board agreed in January 2022 to proposals for a Police Medical Group, now called the Clinical Governance Group (CGG), led by a Chief Medical Officer (CMO). The Home Office and the NPWS have worked together to create a job description for the CMO and Terms of Reference for a Clinical Governance Group which will support the CMO role. An interim CMO was appointed in March 2022 in order to aid the progression of the relevant work while the recruitment process is being carried out.

A CGG meeting was held on 29 March 2022 to discuss the draft Terms of Reference and CMO job description. Experts within the sector joined the meeting including Occupational Health Nurse Advisors to the Police Service (OHNAPS), Police Scientific Advisor Paul Taylor, Human Resource force leads, Home Office and the NPWS clinical leads.

The Home Office and the NPWS have updated the documents based on the group’s feedback and recirculated for further views. The NPWS and the Home Office used this information to inform the job description and to finalise recruitment options and costings.

The College of Policing are progressing the appointment process for a CMO and the NPWS have put in place an interim CMO, Professor John Harrison, with programme management and clinical expertise support to construct the delivery plan. Three CGG meetings have been held to co-produce the plan. A letter from Chief Constable Pam Kelly, as the relevant NPCC lead, to all Chief Constables is being prepared setting out the role and mandate of the CMO which will report into Workforce Co-ordination Committee.

Planned work:

The College of Policing is progressing the recruitment and appointment process for a permanent CMO by April 2023.

Three meetings of the CGG have been held to co-produce the plan with more planned for the coming year. Once the CMO is in place, they will make a decision on the make-up and frequency of the meeting.

An initial priority for the CMO will be to improve occupational health provision by encouraging the implementation of the Foundation, Advanced and Enhanced Occupational Health Standards in all Forces. This links to priorities on Occupational Health Standards (see page 16) and NHS Engagement (see page 26)

In their capacity as the chair of the CGG, the CMO will also lead on Suicide Prevention and Postvention workstreams, a review of medical standards for new recruits, ill health retirement and NHS Engagement (see page 26).

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:

As key gatekeepers in the NHS, the importance of GPs in facilitating access to appropriate support for police to access within the NHS is vital. It is therefore vital that GPs are trained in the specific needs of the police workforce and the impacts policing roles can have.

In conjunction with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), three webinars have been released and are available to practitioners. The webinars “Five minutes to change your practice”, “Mental Health and PTSD” and “Fitness for driving” are all available on the RCGP website.

Planned work:

The NPWS will also look to explore further guidance and advice by April 2023 in order to expand the work beyond the initial cohort of GPs. This includes further work with the RCGP to develop ‘Police Force Friendly’ accredited practices, similar to the Armed Forces Covenant model, and building a framework for nurses in General Practice through independent commissioning boards and the Royal College of Nursing.

In addition to the general practice work, engagement with allied health professionals (e.g. the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, etc), the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine will help develop police-orientated care pathways for other points of treatment.

Allied to this work will be the production of guidance in 2024/25 to increase officer and staff awareness of how to get the best out of the NHS. This will ensure that the police workforce are well placed to make the most of the knowledge the Covenant is building within the medical community.

Honours and memorials

Summary of priority

A review of the honours, medals and memorials landscape to make sure we are making the best use of the existing awards while identifying any gaps in provision.

Progress to date:

Initial discussions with stakeholders identified the memorials landscape as highly complex with many strands to pull together. The creation of the National Police Memorial at the Arboretum has become a focal point for police memorials. This Memorial was funded by Police charities and other stakeholders. There remain areas of work that have not been addressed relating to the recognition of officers and staff who lose their lives. These areas of work will be assessed and addressed during 2023.

In Summer 2022, the Home Office conducted a rapid evidence review into forces’ usage of awarding medals and honours in order to better assess the take up of national awards.

The leads in the Home Office, NPCC, HMICFRS, PFEW were asked if they felt there were any issues or barriers within the medal and honour processes and what improvements could be made to allow forces to easily recognise officers A quantitative and qualitative data collection was sent to all 43 forces in England and Wales which aimed to collect data on what forces think of the medal and honour processes and their usage of the systems.

31 out of 43 forces sent data to the Home Office.

The data highlighted some significant differences between the processes used by forces to identify and put people forward for awards. There are also significant differences in the numbers of individuals put forward for honours by forces and this can lead to the work of some individuals not being recognised appropriately. Other findings from the rapid evidence review include a lack of central guidance, an inconsistent uptake of Home Office training offers, poor data and monitoring of officers who receive medals and honours, the lack of relevant honours for police staff and an absence of a national approach for medal and honour forfeiture.

Planned work:

Out of this work we have identified further strands of work;

• Formal recognition processes for staff, including relevant medals and honours

• Increasing force understanding of nominations

• Forfeiture

The Honours and Awards Working Group will discuss focusing their work on the review at their next meeting, due to take place in the summer 2023.

The Honours element of this work was prioritised in 2022. This strand will continue to be progressed, though there will be an increased focus on Memorials in order to ensure that those who lose their lives are being recognised in the right way.

New priorities

Support for police leavers

Summary of priority

To scope options for a support model for those leaving policing, including retired officers and staff. Identifying where existing workstreams under the Covenant should be extended to police leavers.

Progress to date:

A roundtable discussion with retired officers and members of the National Association of Retired Police Officers took place on 5 July 2022, chaired by the Policing Minister.

Discussions focussed on the significant mental and physical challenges that police leavers have to navigate, often with limited support from their former forces or the wider police family, and on the differing experiences those leaving police had at the point of departure from their force. The outcome from this round table was that further work needed to be done and that a new priority within the Police Covenant would help facilitate this.

Planned work:

Follow up work on this is being discussed at the Delivery Group and further focussed work on gathering evidence is planned for later in 2023 Planned work includes establishing a comprehensive transition package or ‘flight path’ for forces to use when officers and staff are leaving the force. Consideration will also be given to how a similar system to the Armed Forces ‘veterans gateway’ can be implemented for policing comprising of the necessary skills training and psychological preparation.

Forces both within and from outside of the Home Office have raised the issue of ‘off boarding’ members of their workforce. Based on their evidence, the provision of practical training and advice sessions, as well as psychological and counselling services to those leaving policing, are being considered to help prepare for life after policing. This includes activities such as CV preparation, job interview training, IT training and financial advice to help with the culture shock of leaving and provide ongoing support for psychological issues arising after they have left (for example PTSD may not be evident until some years after an event has taken place). The NPWS have assured the board that these products will be ready for dissemination into forces as of September 2023.

NHS Engagement

Summary of priority

Scoping of the current support in place in relation to healthcare pathways for the police workforce. This will help identify where the gaps are across a number of health and wellbeing issues and establish a proposal for ensuring consistent support nationally.

Progress to date:

Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan (South Wales Police), NHS Wales and the Welsh Government have begun collaborating on a ‘Policing Partnership for Wales’ to develop a commissioning model to meet the needs of police forces. The Welsh Chief Officer Group have now begun to develop a police health needs assessment model for application across each of the four forces in Wales.

This work is now in the process of being formalised and as agreed at PCDG on 29 November 2022, a new working group made up of the NPWS, the CMO, the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care has been set up to discuss engagement and the exact process for formalising any arrangements.

Planned work:

Welsh forces will engage in further work with the Welsh Government to establish a pathfinder project. The NPWS will support this and look to share the valuable learning to inform the NHS England approach. This work will remain ongoing, with the CGG and CMO playing a vital role in both shaping and leading.

With the engagement of NHS England and NHS Improvement, the NPWS will look to generate support for commissioning of police-informed healthcare commissioning within the health care system in 2024. This will include the development of toolkits to support the local commissioning of police-informed healthcare led by the relevant Chief Constable based on health needs assessment, via Integrated Health Partnerships (England) or Health Boards (Wales).

Officer and Staff Roadside Safety

Summary of priority

Officer and staff roadside safety - to 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 (CPS) 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 or attempting to use a vehicle to target members of the police workforce. The Ministry of Justice reviewed the legislation against examples provided by NPCC and concluded that there is already sufficient legislation in place. Consideration will now be given as to whether prosecution guidelines can be amended to reflect concerns that have been raised about officers being intentionally driven at and injured.

Planned work:

The Sentencing Council is in the process of revising its sentencing guidelines for road traffic offences and, as part of this, will consider what sentences should be available should charges be brought in cases where vehicles have been used to target members of the police workforce. The Home Office will work with the Crown Prosecution Service 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 Crown Prosecution Service aim to publish the guidance before the end of March 2023.

Review of Memorandum of Understanding

The Government Departments, involved in the implementation of the Police Covenant, have agreed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which 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 Governments will also be consulted throughout.

The signed MoU can be accessed here:

Police Covenant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Now that the MoU has been created, it will be reviewed annually to ensure it remains fit for purpose. Any changes made to the document will be noted in this annex in future annual reports.

Annex A: Welsh government

Delivering the Police Covenant in Wales

In Wales we are 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.

In this context, we 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.

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. Progress will be monitored monthly at JESG and reported back to the Policing Partnership Board for Wales. Progress will also be reflected in future annual reports.

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.

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.

Annex B: relevant links

Police Covenant Legislation

Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk)

Police Covenant webpage / links

Police Covenant - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Police Covenant pledge

Police Covenant pledge - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU)

Police Covenant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS)

The National Police Wellbeing Service: Oscar Kilo

Wellbeing: College of Policing

Productivity review

NPCC led review: operational productivity of policing - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Support options available

Toolkits and campaigns: Oscar Kilo

Find help: Oscar Kilo

Police charities and services: Oscar Kilo

Police Charities UK

Help For - Police Care UK

Call4Backup – UK Police Peer Support Charity

Home - Thin Blue Line UK

The Police Treatment Centres

Home - Flint House Police Rehabilitation

The Police Children’s Charity (thepolicechildrenscharity.org)

Backup Buddy UK – The Mental Health Support App for Police

Care of Police Survivors - Support for Bereaved Families: COPS UK (ukcops.org)

Home - The Police Memorial Trust

Annex C: acronym glossary

AOEW	Assault on Emergency Workers Act 2018
CMO	Chief Medical Officer
CGG	Clinical Governance Group
CPOSA	Chief Police Officers’ Staff Association
CPS	Crow Prosecution Service
FLLDP	Front Line Leadership Development Programme
GP	General Practitioners
HMICFRS	His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services
JESG	Joint Emergency Services Group
MoU	Memorandum of Understanding
MPS	Metropolitan Police Service
MoJ	Ministry of Justice
NHS	National Health Service
NPCC	National Police Chiefs’ Council
NPWS	The National Police Wellbeing Service (A.K.A Oscar Kilo)
OH	Occupational Health
OHNAPS	Occupational Health Nurse Advisors to the Police Service
OSSR	Officer and Staff Safety Review
PEEL	Police Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Legitimacy.
PCDG	Police Covenant Delivery Group
PDS	Police Digital Service
PFEW	Police Federation of England and Wales
PSA	The Police Superintendents’ Association
PEQF	Policing Education and Qualifications Framework
PTSD	Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
RIDDOR	Reporting Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences
RCGP	Royal College of General Practitioners
SISR	Service Improvement Stress Reduction

Annex D: 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.

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1. Police Covenant pledge - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ↩