We are committed to providing the highest possible standard of customer service, but are aware that sometimes things may go wrong. If you are unhappy or dissatisfied with the level of service you have received from us, please let us know. We will listen to you and endeavour to resolve issues quickly and at the right level.
It you are unhappy or dissatisfied about your case or the service you have received, often the easiest and quickest way to resolve this is to talk to the person you have been dealing with. They may be able to deal with the matter there and then.
With all complaints or expressions of dissatisfaction we will:
- seek to put things right
- seek resolution at an early stage
- be flexible in our approach to meet your needs
- be customer focused and deal with all concerns promptly
- be open and accountable
- use the information to improve our service
The following information will help you to understand the options available to you and explain who to contact.
Complaints, concerns or feedback about our service
If you are not happy with the service you received from us you can make a complaint to our Quality and Service Improvement Feedback Team.
Their role is not to address concerns about the decisions made in your case (further information is provided below about concerns that involve a case-related matter). They will look at the service you received from our staff.
We will acknowledge your complaint and aim to resolve it within 20 working days. If we think it may take longer than this, we will contact you and explain how long we expect it to take.
Information required
Please make your complaint in writing. This is the best way to make sure that we receive a full account of what happened.
If you are unable to put your complaint in writing, we provide a dedicated voicemail facility (see contact details below). If you contact us in this way, someone will contact you to confirm we have received your complaint. They will explain what will happen next and how long we expect to take to respond to your complaint. When using the voicemail facility please provide all the information listed below.
All complaints should:
- include your personal contact information – name, address, telephone/mobile number and postcode
- include any reference numbers included on letters we have sent to you
- outline which member/s of staff you are complaining about – if applicable
- clearly explain why you are making a complaint and what your complaint is about
- include any evidence you have to support your complaint
Contact details
Quality and Service Improvement Feedback Team
Independent Office for Police Conduct
PO Box 473
Sale
M33 0BW
Main switchboard: 0300 020 0096
Leave a voicemail: 0300 020 0096 (ask to be put through to the Quality and Service Improvement voicemail.)
We welcome telephone calls in Welsh.
Rydym yn croesawu galwadau ffôn yn y Gymraeg.
Email: [email protected]
Make a complaint about the IOPC using our online form.
Our policies
We have produced two policies that describe how to make a complaint or provide feedback about our work, and what might happen as a result.
Our Complaints and Feedback Policy explains how to give us your feedback, make suggestions or complain about our work. It sets out how we handle feedback and complaints about our service or our staff. This Policy is also available in Welsh.
The Director General and Non-executive Directors’ Complaints Policy explains how we handle complaints that involve the conduct of our Director General, Senior Independent Director or non-executive directors. This Policy is also available in Welsh.
Complaints or concerns about case-related matters
If you have any questions or need more information about a decision we have made on an appeal, a review or an investigation, please contact the person dealing with your case. This is often the easiest way to explain the reasons for the decision and answer any questions you have.
You should be aware that, except in limited circumstances, our appeal, review and investigation decisions are final. This means that the decisions we make and communicate to those involved in our cases can only be challenged and overturned through the judicial review process. For this reason we do not accept complaints about our case decisions.
The following information will help you understand what to consider if you are unhappy with a case-related decision made by the IOPC.
Judicial review
Judicial review is a way of challenging the decisions and acts of a public body on the basis that it has not acted lawfully in making that decision. Judicial review is not an appeal and should not be used where people disagree with a public body’s decision. It is a formal legal process where a judge can examine the decision being challenged and consider whether the law has been followed correctly by the public body in making that decision. A judge cannot change the decision that the public body has made. However, if they find that that the public body has not acted lawfully in making its decision, there are several potential next steps. For example, the court could issue an order which overturns or undoes the decision being challenged so that it has no legal effect, or an order that stops a public body from taking an unlawful decision or action that it has not yet taken.
After you contact us, if you are still unhappy with a decision we have made and you want to take things further, you can apply to court for a judicial review. Please note though that this process may cost you money (e.g. court and legal fees) and there is no guarantee of success. Applications for judicial review should usually be made promptly, and certainly within three months of the decision being challenged. We recommend that you seek independent legal advice if you are considering this course of action.
Further information about judicial review can be found at:
Administrative Court judicial review guide - www.gov.uk
An introduction to Judicial Review - www.publiclawproject.org.uk
Victims’ Right to Review
At the end of an IOPC investigation we produce a report setting out what happened, what evidence our investigators found and our analysis of the evidence. We also make decisions about:
- whether the police officers/staff involved should face any disciplinary action or action to improve their performance
- whether, in certain circumstances, to refer matters to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The CPS is responsible for deciding whether anyone should be charged with a criminal offence
The Victims’ Right to Review (VRR) scheme applies to most of our independent and managed/directed investigations where we find an indication that a criminal offence may have been committed. It gives victims the right to request a review if we have decided not to refer a criminal investigation to the CPS for a charging decision. The scheme applies to decisions about CPS referrals made on or after 1 December 2020.
We classify someone as a victim where they:
- have made an allegation that they suffered harm, including physical, mental or emotional harm or economic loss, which was directly caused by a criminal offence, or
- have had such an allegation made on their behalf, or
- have been contacted as a victim in the course of an IOPC investigation
A victim can also be a close relative of a person who died during or following police contact, where it is alleged their death was directly caused by a criminal offence. A ‘close relative’ refers to the victim’s spouse, partner, parents, siblings or any dependents. In certain circumstances other family members, including guardians and carers, may also be considered.
Requests for review may be received from someone acting on behalf of a victim in certain circumstances. This will be considered on a case by case basis, and we may need to obtain the written authorisation of the victim.
If you are a victim and the VRR scheme applies to you, we will notify you of your right to ask for a review when we tell you about our provisional decision not to make a referral to the CPS.
Requests under the VRR scheme should normally be made within 28 days of the date of the letter notifying you of the above decision. However, some offences have a statutory time limit; this means that a person must be charged within six months of committing the alleged offence. If a charging time limit applies, we may require that a VRR request is submitted more quickly. We will let you know if this is the case.
If the request is made after the specified deadline, we will ask why your request is late. If there are exceptional circumstances for the delay, we may still consider it.
When a VRR is requested, a ‘reviewer’ will be allocated. The reviewer will have had no decision-making role in the investigation. Wherever possible, the reviewer will not:
- be based in the office where the investigation was conducted
- be based in the same office as the person who made the provisional decision not to make a referral to the CPS
The reviewer will consider the investigation report and have access to the evidence gathered during the investigation. They will also take into account why you feel a referral to the CPS should be made, provided that you submit your views before the relevant deadline. The reviewer will aim to carry out the review as quickly as possible and within 28 days. This timeframe will be shorter where the offences involved have a statutory time limit for charging.
If the reviewer determines that the provisional decision not to refer the matter to the CPS should stand, then that provisional decision will be confirmed. Otherwise, it will be replaced with a new decision about whether to make a referral to the CPS.
We will notify you about the outcome to the VRR process. You will not be able to request a further review once we have let you know the VRR outcome. Should you wish to challenge the review decision, you can apply for a judicial review (please refer to the section above for more details).
Read our policy on the Victim's Right to Review scheme and also find more information in our Victim's Right to Review leaflet. You can also read our response to the 2020 consultation on the victims’ right to review scheme.
We will publish the leaflet in easy read format shortly.
Re-investigation of an IOPC investigation
From February 2020, the IOPC has the power to require a re-investigation. We can use this power from the point when a report on a directed or independent investigation of a complaint, recordable conduct matter or death or serious injury matter has been completed and sent to an IOPC decision maker for them to make end of investigation decisions. A conduct matter is any matter which is not and has not been the subject of a complaint, where there is an indication that a person serving with the police may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner which would justify disciplinary proceedings. The decisions made at the end of an investigation include decisions about referral to the CPS, whether any officers/staff should face disciplinary proceedings, etc. This power cannot be used to reinvestigate a local or managed investigation.
We only use this power where we are satisfied that there are compelling reasons to do so. To find compelling reasons, we must be satisfied that:
- the original investigation was flawed in a way that had a material impact on subsequent decisions on discipline, performance and/or referral to the CPS; and/or
- there is significant new information that requires further investigation and a real possibility that the new information, had it been available, would have led wholly or partly to different decisions on discipline, performance and/or referral to the CPS; and
- it is necessary to require a re-investigation in the public interest.
Where there is an indication that a re-investigation may be necessary, we will carry out an initial assessment of the information already available to us.
The list below describes circumstances that may trigger an initial assessment. This list is not exhaustive or prescriptive. We may also decide to carry out an initial assessment at any time.
- New information, which appears to be material or significant.
- Representations from a third party.
- Different conclusions on the evidence reached by a court or tribunal (e.g. an inquest) which indicate a material deficiency in the original investigation.
Following this initial assessment, we will determine whether a review is necessary. A review will be necessary where we have reason to believe that the original investigation was materially flawed, and/or there is significant new information that requires further investigation.
The review will not involve or constitute any further investigation. The reviewer, who will be sufficiently independent from the original investigation, will consider whether a re-investigation is required. This decision will be based on an examination of the original investigation and consideration of any alleged material flaws or new information.
After the review we will make a final decision about whether to re-investigate. This will be based on whether there are compelling reasons to do so. If it is decided that a re-investigation is required, we will then determine whether it will be an independent or a directed investigation.
If you have information that could be considered to be compelling reasons to re-investigate a directed or independent investigation, you should write to the person responsible for the case. Any written representations must do more than simply disagree with the original findings of the investigation. You must highlight potential material flaws or significant new evidence. This will then be assessed as above and passed for a review, if appropriate. We will let you know the outcome of our assessment and explain the decision about whether to reinvestigate or not.
FOI complaints
If you disagree with the way we have dealt with your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, you can request an internal review of the decision to the FOI appeals officer. You must do this within 40 working days of our decision notice to you. We aim to respond to a request for internal review within 20 working days.
Please write to:
Data Protection Officer
Independent Office for Police Conduct
10 South Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London
E14 4PU
United Kingdom
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your internal review, you then have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Compliments and feedback
If you would like to send a compliment or provide feedback about our staff and/or the service we have provided, please use the contact details above or complete our online form.