Police leadership in England and Wales needs fundamental overhaul, government-backed review finds

A damning indictment

A government-commissioned review has concluded that police leadership in England and Wales is not consistently of a high enough standard and requires a fundamental overhaul. The Police Leadership Commission, co-chaired by former Labour home secretary Lord David Blunkett and former Conservative policing minister Lord Nick Herbert, published its findings on Monday after gathering evidence from nearly 2,000 sergeants and inspectors, expert roundtables and over 400 public submissions.

Two contradictory things can be true at the same time. You can have outstanding leadership and you can have deep-seated and extremely worrying behaviour.

The report covers all 43 forces and was commissioned by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood in the wake of scandals including the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer. It describes a "postcode lottery" in the quality of service the public receives.

Leadership failures

Investigators found that 78 probes into police leaders from assistant chief constable rank upwards have been launched since 2018, with common themes of cronyism, nepotism, abuse of position for sexual purpose and corruption. Eight current or former chief constables are either under investigation or awaiting disciplinary proceedings.

Some forces are very good but some have lost focus on cutting crime.

The report states that leaders are "insufficiently focused on delivering outcomes for the public" and that a culture of excessive bureaucracy and risk-aversion has taken hold. Only 13% of constables and 17% of sergeants agreed they work in a well-led and managed organisation.

Morale and promotion

A key finding is that promotion processes are a "postcode lottery" with officers raising concerns about nepotism and favouritism. The report notes that almost a third of frontline officers have less than five years' experience, and many feel demotivated by negative leadership cultures. It calls for central funding for leadership development to be restored, in line with other public services like the NHS.

Recommendations and response

The Commission recommends an "ethical reset" of police leadership, reformed recruitment and promotion, and a renewed focus on cutting crime and keeping people safe. Policing minister Sarah Jones said the recommendations would shape the government's programme of police reform, which includes plans for a new National Police Service and a reduction in the number of forces.

Their recommendations will help shape our programme of police reform to strengthen leadership, raise standards and restore confidence in policing.

Lord Blunkett told the BBC that the service needed an "ethical reset", acknowledging both outstanding examples of leadership and "extraordinarily worrying evidence requiring profound change".