Recommendations - Leicestershire Police and the Office of the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner, June 2026

The IOPC recommends that Leicestershire Police and the Office of the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) work together to conduct a holistic review of the policies, guidance, forms, and processes relating to the declaration of business interests to ensure that that they are collectively creating a consistent, unambiguous framework with clear expectations for officers and staff. The below policies/guidance should be reviewed to ensure that they all align with each other particularly in relation to voluntary roles: 

• Leicestershire Police Business Interests Policy and Procedure 
• OPCC Related Party Transactions Guidance and Declaration Form 
• Leicestershire Police Gifts, Gratuities and Hospitality Procedure 

The updated framework should be embedded through appropriate training and communications across the force and the OPCC. This follows an independent investigation into the non-declaration of a voluntary, unpaid business interest. 

Accepted

The Leicestershire Police Business Interests and Additional Occupations Procedure will be reviewed and updated in line with the National Procedure currently being drafted through the working group.    

This will be cross referenced with the internal policy relating to gifts and gratuities with particular focus on volunteer roles to ensure clarity.  

Leicestershire PSD will work collaboratively with the OPCC to ensure the expected framework is clear for all roles / ranks across the organisation and that expectation is aligned to prevent future misinterpretation. 

The National Procedure is expected by the end of the year. Therefore, Leicestershire’s updated Procedure will be drafted and finalised in Q4. This prevents duplication of work and inefficient use of resources to review it twice.  

The new BI procedure will be published alongside a key changes message. The BI procedure is also part of the yearly AIVR carried out by all staff with their line managers. This is an automated process ensuring compliance and one of the expectations is enable understanding of the BI procedure.  

The updating of Policy and Procedure is tracked though the PSD Governance meeting and this recommendation is recorded there to ensure completion.

The IOPC recommends that Leicestershire Police and the Office of the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) work together to conduct a holistic review of the policies, guidance, forms, and processes relating to the declaration of business interests to ensure that that they are collectively creating a consistent, unambiguous framework with clear expectations for officers and staff. 

The documents that the review should include, but not necessarily be limited to, are the business interests policy, related party transactions guidance, operational procedure guidance, and related party declaration form. The updated framework should be embedded through appropriate training and communications across the force and OPCC. 

This follows an independent investigation into the non-declaration of a voluntary, unpaid business interest. The investigation found that the relevant policies, guidance, processes, and forms collectively were confusing and unclear, and do not support officers and staff to do the right thing. Undertaking a collaborative, holistic review reduces the risk of introducing more inconsistencies and uncertainty.

Accepted

The OPCC accepts the IOPC's recommendation and will work collaboratively with Leicestershire Police to undertake a holistic review of the policies, guidance, forms and processes relating to the declaration of business interests. 

We recognise the need to ensure a clear, consistent and unambiguous framework that supports officers and staff in understanding and meeting their responsibilities. Any revised arrangements will be embedded through appropriate training and communication to promote consistency and reduce the risk of future uncertainty or misunderstanding.