Suspended Police Officers from January 2022 to October 2024

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.040514

I note you seek access to the following information:

1. Suspended Police Officers: Please provide details about police officers who have been suspended from 1 January 2022, to the present, including:
   - The offenses leading to their suspension.
   - The actions taken against these officers.
2. Ethnicities of Newly Admitted Police Officers: I request data on the ethnicities of newly admitted police officers from 1 January 2024, to the present.
3. Pension Benefits: Please provide information regarding the pension benefits available to police officers, including any recent changes to the pension scheme.

I believe this information is in the public interest, as it pertains to transparency and accountability within the Metropolitan Police Service. If any fees are associated with this request, please inform me in advance.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 21(1) - Information Accessible to Applicant by Other Means

Reason for decision

The MPS has provided the information located in response to part 1 of your request for information by way of the enclosed spreadsheet.

The information located in response to part 2 and 3 of your request has been provided by way of a series of links to published information and/or with information provided within this notice.

Section 21(1) - Information Accessible to Applicant by Other Means - of the Act provides public authorities with an exclusion from the duty to disclose information under Section 1(1)(b) of the Act, when the information requested is reasonably accessible to the applicant.

Disclosure

Q2 - Ethnicities of Newly Admitted Police Officers: I request data on the ethnicities of newly admitted police officers from 1 January 2024, to the present.

Recruit Ethnicity Data From the 1 January 2024 to the 31 October 2024 has been provided in the table below.

The Met’s published ‘workforce data report’ provides a monthly breakdown of recruit ethnicity data.

MPS - Workforce Data Report

Please refer to the recruitment profile table in each monthly spreadsheet.

In making your request, I note that you have used to the term “ethnicities”. If this part of your request seeks access to ethnicity data broken down in further detail, please email or contact me at the postal address at the top of this notice.

Q3 - Pension Benefits: Please provide information regarding the pension benefits available to police officers, including any recent changes to the pension scheme.

The UK Government has collated and published the details of the various police pension schemes. I have provided a link to this information below.

UK Government Website: Police Pension Schemes
Government - Police pension schemes

Maintaining Public Trust in the MPS
Securing and maintaining the trust of the community is integral to the principle of policing by consent and to continue to do so, the MPS recognises that its staff must act with professionalism and integrity. The MPS treats each occasion when an allegation is made about the conduct of its staff extremely seriously and will fully investigate each incident to determine whether the conduct of that member of staff has breached the standards of professional behaviour. Where the conduct of staff is proven to have fallen below the standards of behaviour expected, the MPS will take robust action to ensure that its staff are held to account and that lessons are learnt from each case. Any instance where the conduct of our staff is alleged to have fallen below the standards of behaviour expected is treated extremely seriously by the MPS.

DUTY TO ADVISE AND ASSIST
Under Section 16 of the Act, there is a duty to advise and assist those that have made, or intend to make, a request for information. In accordance with this duty, I can confirm that the MPS publishes information about various types of crime on its website. I have provided a link to this information below.

MPS Website: Stats and Data

It may also assist you to note that the MPS proactively publishes all disclosures made in response to requests made under the Act on its Publication Scheme. I have provided a link to this section of the MPS website below.

MPS Website Publication Scheme

The MPS Publication Scheme can be searched using keywords and may accordingly hold other information that is of interest to you.