Final Report of the Morris Inquiry: The Case for Change

PEOPLE ISSUES
the procedures for dealing with discipline, capability and grievance will be the same
for both officers and police staff. HR will be the custodian of these procedures.
4.27 Currently, the HR directorate has no role in police officer disciplinary matters
and we believe this to be an anomaly that should be remedied.
4.28 It appears to us that there are at least two facets to a police disciplinary case
under the current system. There is the investigation, which is the responsibility of
the Directorate of Professional Standards, but there is also a human resource issue,
that is, the welfare of the officer. He or she is a member of the MPS and, therefore,
the organisation has a continuing responsibility to ensure that they are treated fairly
and not unnecessarily damaged by the process.
4.29 We have heard much criticism of the lack of welfare support during the
disciplinary investigation, particularly in respect of suspended officers and the
difficulty of absorbing them back into work once the process is concluded. We will
deal with this in more detail later in the report. We consider that this is an area
where HR should play a greater role.
4.30 The Inquiry has been informed about the way in which Martin Tiplady, the
Director of HR, monitors the progress of police staff disciplinary matters to ensure
they are dealt with in a timely fashion and that staff do not spend long periods on
suspension unless this is unavoidable. This appears to have been effective in
introducing a sense of urgency into disciplinary matters and in holding the
managers involved to account.
4.31 We feel that HR should be involved in police officer discipline cases from a
people management perspective and look particularly at issues such as welfare
support, keeping the officer informed of progress and, if appropriate, overseeing
the arrangements for absorbing the officer back into the workforce.
4.32 This was put to Mr Hogan-Howe, Assistant Commissioner (HR), when he
attended the Inquiry on a second occasion. Although he was initially concerned
about confused management responsibilities, he warmed to the idea as the
discussion proceeded:
“I can see there is a power in it … that if you said that the purpose of that meeting … was in
fact that DPS was responsible for the discipline inquiry, the HR department was responsible
for the care of the individuals … and that might be about, well, is the manager doing their job?
Are they keeping in touch with them if they are suspended?”
We therefore recommend that the MPS should ensure that the Human
Resources directorate plays a full part in the management of discipline cases,
with responsibility for maintaining contact with officers under investigation
and overseeing welfare support and re-entry into the workplace for
suspended officers.
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