Breaching expenses by Police Officers from 2015 to 2023

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.035389

I note you seek access to the following information:

1. How many instances have there been where police officers (including Special Constables) have had to repay expenses (for example due to over-claiming, fraud, or mistake). Please provide data for 2015 to 3023. Please provide data to the extent that it is available, so if for example 2023 is not available please provide without 2023 data; or if not all repayments are available, then where this has been flagged as potential misconduct.
2. Where there has been a breach of policy or an offence linked to claiming of expenses, how often was this classified as misconduct, and how often as gross misconduct. Please provide further information on actions taken (e.g. dismissal) if available. Please provide data for 2015 to 2023. Please provide data to the extent that it is available, so if for example 2023 is not available please provide without 2023 data.
3. The internal policies used to determine if an expense related offence/error is to be classified as misconduct or gross misconduct.
4. The average time taken to resolve misconduct allegations after Form 163 is served (including where it is determined that there is no case to answer) linked to claiming of expenses. Please provide further information on actions taken (e.g. dismissal) if available. Please provide data for 2015 to 2023. Please provide data to the extent that it is available, so if for example 2023 is not available please provide without 2023 data.

Decision

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

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - How many instances have there been where police officers (including Special Constables) have had to repay expenses (for example due to over-claiming, fraud, or mistake). Please provide data for 2015-2023. Please provide data to the extent that it is available, so if for example 2023 is not available please provide without 2023 data; or if not all repayments are available, then where this has been flagged as potential misconduct.

Please see below the number of Police Officers who repaid expenses by year.

MSC are more difficult to establish, the only figure we can provide is that since 2020 there have been 244 MSC who have repaid expenses.

Questions 2 and 4

Where there has been a breach of policy or an offence linked to claiming of expenses, how often was this classified as misconduct, and how often as gross misconduct. Please provide further information on actions taken (e.g. dismissal) if available. Please provide data for 2015 to 2023. Please provide data to the extent that it is available, so if for example 2023 is not available please provide without 2023 data.

The average time taken to resolve misconduct allegations after Form 163 is served (including where it is determined that there is no case to answer) linked to claiming of expenses. Please provide further information on actions taken (e.g. dismissal) if available. Please provide data for 2015 to 2023. Please provide data to the extent that it is available, so if for example 2023 is not available please provide without 2023 data.

Please see the report below.

Q3 - The internal policies used to determine if an expense related offence/error is to be classified as misconduct or gross misconduct.

All police misconduct assessments (determinations or classifications in the language of the enquiry) are made in accordance with the Police Reform Act. The MPS policy is to follow the Police Conduct Regulations 2020 or, the Police (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2020. Which conduct regime is used will depend on the individual circumstances of the case.