Angiolini Inquiry recommendations progress

The Angiolini Inquiry was established to investigate how an off-duty Metropolitan police officer was able to abduct, rape and murder a member of the public, Sarah Everard.

The findings and recommendations of this investigation were published in February 2024. Policing accepted all 16 recommendations, and over the last year work has been ongoing to develop and take forward these recommendations, building the necessary steps to embed them in processes and culture. A number of the recommendations were for the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, College of Policing and the NPCC, and further recommendations were specifically for police forces.

Speaking one year on from the Angiolini Inquiry, Chief Constable Lauren Poultney, said:

“In 2024, South Yorkshire Police wholly accepted the inquiry recommendations for policing, and we began work immediately to deliver on them.

“We publicly commit to being a police force that is anti-discriminatory, in all its forms, embedding an inclusive culture and one where we are accountable for the powers entrusted to us.

“We all felt horrified when we learnt Wayne Couzens, the person responsible for the brutal death of Sarah Everard was a police officer and further shocked to learn that he used the trust she placed in that role to carry out her murder. We cannot change what has gone before but we must focus on ensuring anyone one who carries the same depraved desires cannot exist amongst us again and to ensure no one like him ever becomes part of us again.

“We will continue to ensure that we hold every person working in South Yorkshire, both officers and staff, to a higher standard of behaviour and accountability.

South Yorkshire Police recommendations progress

We have made progress against the five recommendations for police forces, including our approach to investigating non-contact indecent exposure, the recruitment of Welfare Support Officers, and enhanced vetting procedures.

We have staff working in our Crime Support Hub dedicated to the review and oversight of non-contact sexual offences. This includes the investigation, engagement with victims and evidence capturing. In each district of the force, we have a nominated Detective Inspector who is responsible for maintaining oversight of these investigations and supporting officers to conduct appropriate standards of investigations, assessing risk and suitable department investigation ownership.

Mandatory violence against women and girls training has been rolled out for all front-line officers, sergeants and inspectors. This training programme takes a victim-centred approach and includes non-contact sexual offences. In addition, we continue to deliver first responder domestic abuse training to all front-line officers and staff, with more than 2,000 of our workforce trained.

As part of our recruitment and vetting processes, we have introduced a mandatory streamlined annual vetting review of all SYP officers and staff and implemented the new Vetting Code of Practice to ensure transparency and accountability for all existing employees and transferees.

We have also focussed our attention on our own officers and staff who are victim survivors of domestic and sexual offences. A new and improved internal support and signposting process has been introduced for officers and staff, men and women, who are survivors of domestic and sexual abuse to ensure they receive the same support as other victims of crime and robust investigation takes place.  In addition, we have introduced a peer support group, recruited Women’s Support Advocates who work alongside our 100 strong network of domestic abuse champions, and a nine-point plan for supervisors to follow when abuse is reported.

An independent scrutiny panel has been established to review any police perpetrated domestic abuse (PPDA) misconduct investigations which are deemed to be ‘no case to answer’. PPDA and Abuse of Position for Sexual Purpose (APSP) training has been delivered to officers and staff and continues to be rolled out to partner agencies to increase awareness and reporting.

In 2024, we launched a public crime prevention campaign focusing on tackling online violence against women, this the first of its kind to solely cover online abuse. The campaign covered new offences introduced under the Online Safety Act 2023 such as cyberflashing, threatening someone with harm, rape or death, sharing false information and cyberstalking. The campaign takes behaviours that are often dismissed as a joke, for fun or just banter, and calls them out for what they really are – criminal offences.

National Policing Culture and Inclusion Strategy 2025-2030

The College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) have developed a five-year culture and inclusion strategy for policing.

The strategy sets the vision for policing to have a representative workforce that is a trusted profession, demonstrating the highest levels of integrity, fairness and respect towards each other and the public we serve.

The strategy is available for police forces to implement from 1 April 2025. It establishes new standards focusing on two interconnected priorities: evolving police organisations and improved working with the public. As part of the strategy there will be practical guidance and tools available to support forces to create lasting cultural change.

The strategy will be owned by a chief officer in each force who will maintain sign-off and oversight of force performance on an annual basis.

The NPCC and College of Policing will work with His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to enable effective scrutiny of progress against this strategy and the culture and inclusion standard for policing.

The NPCC Chair, Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, said:

“I stand with my colleagues across policing to say we are fully committed to a police service that is anti-discriminatory and we continue working hard to eradicate sexism, racism and misogyny.

“Actions speak louder than words and while a statement can be incredibly powerful, we know that what is more important is how we embed an anti-discriminatory culture. We are driving out behaviour that does not meet the high standards of integrity the public and colleagues deserve and creating an environment where everyone is supported and empowered.

“This commitment to being anti-discriminatory represents a line in the sand while building on the valuable work ongoing across policing to address poor culture and ensure our workforce meets the high standards our communities expect and deserve.

“The Angiolini Inquiry part one was an urgent call for action and I know I speak for everyone in policing when I say we heard that call and are fully committed to bringing lasting, impactful change for future generations.”

Reporting corruption or abuse

To report corruption or serious abuse within policing, please contact the Police Anti-Corruption and Abuse Reporting Service, run by the independent charity Crimestoppers.

The service gives the public an anonymous route to report information about a police officer, member of staff or volunteer, who they believe are corrupt or committing serious abuse.

Contact the service by calling 0800 085 0000 or via the Crimestoppers' website. For more information about the service, visit the Police Anti-Corruption and Abuse Reporting Service.