Complaints that lie outside of the Police Complaints Procedure

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.024942

I note you seek access to the following information:

Over the last two years:

How many complaints has the Metropolitan Police received that are considered to be "complaints that lie outside of the Police Complaints Procedure" and as a result are not answered or investigated?

How many of those complaints were complaints about the Police lack of investigation or investigation regarding Boris Johnson and his rumoured attendance at parties?

Is there any method a member of the public can raise a complaint about Police handling of a matter where they are not directly involved in that incident? Is so what are they?

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

How many complaints has the Metropolitan Police received that are considered to be "complaints that lie outside of the Police Complaints Procedure" and as a result are not answered or investigated?

Between 1 January 2020 and 1 June 2022 the MPS Directorate of professional standards received 6408 enquiries from people who were unable to raise a complaint because they were not ‘complainants’ as defined by the Police reform act.

How many of those complaints were complaints about the Police lack of investigation or investigation regarding Boris Johnson and his rumoured attendance at parties?

A total of 1907 of these matters related to MPS action or perceived lack of action in relation Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s activities during lockdown or made reference to ‘Partygate’.

Is there any method a member of the public can raise a complaint about Police handling of a matter where they are not directly involved in that incident? Is so what are they?

There are no provisions within legislation that allow a member of the public to raise concerns about policing matters in which they were not involved or adversely affected.