Recommendation - Greater Manchester Police, November 2025

The IOPC recommends that Greater Manchester Police (GMP) should develop guidance for officers when they work with external agencies and utilise policing powers on their behalf.

This follows an IOPC review of a complaint handled by investigation by GMP whereby officers enacted policing powers to assist the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Persons were arrested and officers carried out a search and seizure of exhibits. The review identified that there were some confusions regarding the joint working process, policing power used and protocol for exhibit recovery.

The complaint review identified that GMP have no guidance or policy for officers regarding their joint working but do have a specialised team (Operation Vulcan) who provides advice and undertakes external agency working when they have capacity.

Documented guidance would ensure all officers are aware of their roles and responsibilities when utilising their policing powers for other agencies and enable a standardised best practice approach 

Accepted

I note this recommendation and have discussed the matter with an IOPC Casework Manager.  

The issues highlighted within this case centre around a lack of knowledge and understanding around legislation used in the seizure of exhibits and subsequent issues highlighted within the court process. 

I believe there needs to be an overarching guidance document that can be utilised by police officers who work alongside partner agencies, in particular where partner agencies may be the lead investigator (i.e DWP, immigration) and during this time certain powers are delegated to the police, for example, the execution of a DWP warrant. 

Based on the amount of partner agency work that the police are involved with, this will need to be generic guidance which covers the following areas (albeit other factors may be relevant depending on the nature of the incident):

• Planning stage whereby the relevant legal powers are identified, and a lead agency is confirmed.
• Full briefing with partners to ensure that all persons involved are fully aware of the powers they are working under and what items are in scope for recovery.
• Identification of lead investigator / supervisor who takes ownership and control of the incident.
• Confirmation of exhibits officer – who maintains ownership of the continuity and management of all exhibits, ensuring accuracy with regards to what the exhibits are / where recovered from.
• Consideration around utilising body worn video to assist in recording the search. 

Upon receipt of the published report, this will be referred to the organisational learning board to progress.