By Gabriel Princewill-
The UK government has called on the British public to contribute to a major review of police accountability amid a 15 per cent increase in complaints against police forces in England and Wales, raising fresh questions about public confidence, institutional transparency and the effectiveness of existing oversight mechanisms.
The government has launched an independent review to assess the systemic issues in the end-to-end police accountability system. The review will recommend reforms to ensure the police accountability system maintains the confidence of the public and the police, as detailed in the police reform white paper. The review will be chaired by Dame Lynne Owens(pictured) and Jason Beer KC.
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The chairs will submit findings to the Home Secretary and Lord Chancellor within 6 months. The Home Secretary has committed to publishing a response to the review. The review, which runs until 15 January 2027, is seeking evidence from people with direct experience of the police complaints and disciplinary systems, including victims of police misconduct, complainants, barristers and solicitors.
It aims to establish whether the current arrangements for holding police officers and forces accountable are effective, accessible and capable of delivering meaningful outcomes for those affected by alleged misconduct.
The call for evidence comes against the backdrop of figures published by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which show that more than 108,000 complaints against police were recorded during the 2025/26 reporting year.
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This represents a 15 per cent increase on the previous year. However, the watchdog has cautioned that changes in the way complaints are recorded contributed to the rise, meaning the increase should not necessarily be interpreted as evidence of a corresponding deterioration in police conduct, but perhaps evidence of more ways of making complaints, and more complaints coming to light.
Launched by independent co-chairs Dame Lynne Owens and Jason Beer KC, the End-to-End Review of the Police Accountability System, will examine how complaints are handled, how misconduct investigations are conducted and how performance-related concerns are addressed across policing. It will also consider the relatio,nship between police accountability procedures and the wider justice system, including the criminal, civil and coroners’ courts.
The review is intended to provide a comprehensive assessment of how the various accountability mechanisms operate, where they fall short and what changes may be necessary to improve public confidence. Its scope reflects the complexity of the existing arrangements, under which complaints, misconduct proceedings, independent investigations and legal challenges, can involve different institutions and procedures.
Police misconduct in Britain is gradually getting out of control, with the number of misconduct disciplinary hearings, criminal prosecutions and convictions, and growing complain skyrocketing to unprecedented levels. In many cases, gulty officers have retired before the completion of a misconduct hearing, almost mocking the process of the mildest of punitive measures, given the reputational damage caused by the transgression. It appears the need for answers is moving fast.
And today, The Law Society’s Gazette also revealed that solicitors have been approached to participate in the review of police accountability. As with the consultation by the Crown proecution Service today, The Eye Of Media always endeavours to contribute to all important matters of public inteerst, and will make represenations for the purposes of the review.
Dame Lynne Owens said the review wanted to establish what the public believed the police accountability system should achieve, emphasising the importance of hearing from people with different experiences and perspectives.
“As part of the call for evidence we want to establish what people think the accountability system is for,” she said. “We want to hear from people whose experiences and perspectives differ, both in terms of the current challenges and the solutions to resolve them.”
Jason Beer KC described the exercise as a significant opportunity to reshape the system, urging anyone with relevant evidence to participate.
“This is a once in a generation opportunity fundamentally to reform the police accountability system. We encourage everyone with relevant evidence to contribute,” he said.
The experiences of victims and bereaved families are expected to form an important part of the review. Victims’ Commissioner Claire Waxman warned that navigating the police complaints system can compound the distress experienced by people who have already suffered harm.
“I am acutely aware that victims and bereaved families’ experiences of the police complaints system can often be difficult, distressing and retraumatising,” she said.
Waxman added, the process can be lengthy, with individuals seeking answers, recognition of the harm they have experienced and, where appropriate, an apology or meaningful redress.
Her comments highlight a longstanding challenge within police accountability: ensuring that the process does not become another source of frustration for people seeking justice. Accountability is not necessarily limited to disciplinary action against an individual officer.
It can include sacking for misconduct offences, but sometimes simply involve indentifying and exposing institutional failures and securing progressive frameworks designed to prevent a recurrence of unprofessional behaviour.
The concerns also come amid wider recognition that the police complaints system has become increasingly complicated. IOPC Director General Rachel Watson has described the existing arrangements as “too complex and overly bureaucratic”, reinforcing calls for a system that is easier to navigate and more responsive to the needs of complainants.
A wider question of public trust and police accountability
Police accountability in England and Wales has developed through successive reforms intended to strengthen independent oversight and improve public confidence in policing. The establishment of the Independent Police Complaints Commission in 2004, which was replaced by the IOPC in 2018, represented an important stage in the development of independent scrutiny of police conduct.
The IOPC investigates the most serious complaints and incidents involving the police in England and Wales, while other complaints are generally handled through police forces’ own professional standards departments. The distinction between independent oversight and internal investigations has remained an important feature of debates about transparency, impartiality and public confidence.
Despite these arrangements, concerns have persisted over the time taken to resolve complaints, the accessibility of procedures, the independence of investigations ,and the extent to which complainants feel their concerns have been properly addressed. Complaints of police integrity have also been an inherent aspect of countless complaints made against the force of late.
The latest review therefore offers an opportunity to examine not simply how individual complaints are investigated, but whether the overall system delivers accountability in a way that is understandable, proportionate, and credible to the public.
The Government first announced the End-to-End Review in July, with the independent co-chairs now inviting evidence from across the policing and legal sectors, as well as members of the public who have experienced the system. The findings could have significant implications for police forces, oversight bodies, legal practitioners and those seeking redress following alleged police misconduct.
With submissions open until 15 January 2027, it remains to be seen if the review will translate the experiences and evidence gathered into practical reforms that strengthen transparency, reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and ensure that complaints are dealt with fairly and effectively.
It may test whether England and Wales can establish a police accountability system that commands public confidence, protects the rights of complainants and ensures that those entrusted with policing powers are properly answerable for their actions.
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