Duty of candour for policing

A duty of candour has been introduced for policing following a commitment to do so from the College of Policing.

Leaders from the College and NPCC apologised for police failings at Hillsborough in January 2023 after the end of legal proceedings. Following that, an extensive consultation took place across on how a duty of candour would be most effective.

The duty of candour is contained within the Code of Practice for Ethical Policing, which has been laid in parliament today. This will support the new Code of Ethics which will be launched next year. It puts a responsibility on chief police officers to ensure openness and candour within their force and includes a range of issues chiefs should consider when doing this.

College of Policing Chief Constable Andy Marsh said:

Earlier this year policing apologised for profoundly failing those bereaved by the Hillsborough disaster over many years. As I said then policing must never seek to defend the indefensible and must openly acknowledge when mistakes have been made.

As part of our efforts to ensure this can never happen again we have introduced a duty of candour for policing with a commitment that we will welcome scrutiny in an open, honest and transparent way. As police officers we must always act in the interests of the public.

The legislation means chief police officers have a responsibility to ensure openness and candour within their force. It puts an end to speculation that those who speak up about wrongdoing could be penalised and provides a supportive environment where everyone is encouraged to be open, candid and raise any concerns.

We will now work to ensure that any barriers to candour like policies or culture are found and removed as we seek to build and maintain the public’s trust in us to be there when they need us.

Chief Constable Andy Marsh, CEO

Read the Code of Practice for Ethical Policing