To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to investigate the issue of transparency in police misconduct hearings during the public inquiry into issues raised by the murder of Sarah Everard.
Answered on
27 October 2021
Since 2016, misconduct hearings have been chaired independently of forces by Legally Qualified Chairs.
The Police (Conduct) Regulations set out that the presumption is for misconduct hearings to be heard in public. There are however a number of legitimate reasons why Legally Qualified Chairs may decide to hold a hearing in private. These decisions are taken independently and following consideration of representations by all interested parties, including the force, the officer, witnesses and the media.