Unfit officers to be banned from major law enforcement agencies

Disgraced officers from national law enforcement agencies will be blocked from joining local police forces, as the government continues its drive to raise standards and conduct within law enforcement.

The Home Office introduced legislation yesterday to provide for a dedicated National Crime Agency (NCA) barred and advisory list within the landmark Crime and Policing Bill, as part of the Plan for Change.

This new measure will ensure that individuals dismissed from the NCA for gross misconduct are prevented from re-entering policing or any other law enforcement role.

In addition to the NCA, the legislation will also establish new barred and advisory lists for other special police forces, including the British Transport Police (BTP), Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC), and Ministry of Defence Police (MDP). Each force’s list will be maintained by its respective authority, and law enforcement employers across England and Wales will be required to check these lists before hiring.

Where an individual is on the barred list, law enforcement agencies will not be able to employ them. Where an individual is named on the advisory list, the employer will be obligated to take this into consideration as part of the recruitment process. 

Expanding the number of agencies with these lists will tighten recruitment standards across law enforcement and prevent those who have been dismissed from re-entering the system in a different role. 

Policing Minister, Dame Diana Johnson said

The public deserve to know that those tasked with protecting them meet the highest standards.

Under our Safer Streets mission, and our Plan for Change, we are restoring confidence in policing by removing those who undermine it.

This new measure ensures that officers who abuse their position in the NCA cannot resurface in other areas of policing — we will continue taking every possible step to protect the integrity of our law enforcement agencies.

Assistant Chief Constable, Kerry Smith, Civil Nuclear Constabulary’s lead for Professionalism, said

We welcome the government’s move to close this legislative loophole. It will prevent those officers who fail to uphold our rigorous standards from being employed again within policing and law enforcement.

We maintain robust vetting and professional standards, but in the rare instance of one of our officers being dismissed for gross misconduct, these measures will ensure that there is a process to ensure the public are protected and we can maintain trust and confidence in policing.

The move follows a 2023 inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), which found that some former NCA officers dismissed for gross misconduct had been able to join police forces due to gaps in current vetting procedures. The new legislation will close this loophole, further aligning the NCA with the existing police barred and advisory list system.

The NCA barred and advisory list will be UK-wide and will be maintained by the NCA with support from the College of Policing. Police forces and other UK-wide law enforcement bodies will be required to consult the list before making recruitment decisions, ensuring that those dismissed for serious misconduct cannot re-enter the system through the back door.

The new legislation forms part of a series of government reforms to boost public confidence in policing as part of its Safer Streets Mission and Plan for Change. It follows reforms to the Police Appeals Tribunal which will also be included in the Crime and Policing Bill, in addition to enhanced vetting and dismissal procedures that have been announced recently.