Undercover Policing Inquiry

The Met is is one of the ‘Core Participants’ in the Undercover Policing Inquiry, a statutory public Inquiry set up in 2015 by the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, to examine undercover policing within England and Wales from 1968 to the present day. The chairman of the Inquiry is Sir John Mitting, a former High Court judge.

The Inquiry is assessing the contribution undercover policing has made to tackling crime, and how it was and is supervised and regulated, and its effect on individuals involved – police officers and others who came into contact with them. This includes: 

• Undercover officers (UCOs) adopting deceased children’s identities
• Sexual relationships entered into by UCOs
• UCO participation in criminality and the criminal justice system
• UCO deployments, and how they were managed
• Support for UCOs

Full details of the issues the Inquiry is exploring are set out in its terms of reference on the Inquiry website.

What will be covered

The Inquiry is examining, in particular, the work of two former undercover policing units:

1. The Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) initially known as the Special Operation Squad – an undercover unit set up by the Metropolitan Police Service (“the Met”) between 1968 and 2008.
2. The National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU) – which was active between 1999 and 2011. The NPOIU’s governance changed during its operation. It was overseen at different times by the Met and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). ACPO was later replaced by its successor the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

How the Met is assisting the Inquiry

The Met is one of the organisations that has played a significant role in the matters being examined by the Inquiry. A considerable part of the evidence to be heard by the Inquiry will be about the activities of Met officers. A number of former and current Met officers will therefore be called by the Inquiry to give evidence.

Since the Inquiry was announced in 2015, the Met has offered its full assistance to the Inquiry and has provided extensive access to and disclosure of documents and other relevant archive material. This has exceeded more than 80,000 documents and 600,000 pages.

Public hearings

To date the Inquiry has heard evidence at two public hearings:

1. The Tranche 1 Phase 1 Hearing ran from 2 to 19 November 2020. Opening statements were delivered by many of the Inquiry’s Core Participants at this hearing, and evidence heard from former undercover officers and non-state witnesses about the SDS during the period 1968 to the end of 1972.
   
   A copy of the Met’s opening statement which sets out our position in relation to some of the key issues in the Inquiry is available.
   
   

2. The Tranche 1 Phase 2 Hearing ran from 21 April to 13 May 2021. This hearing focussed on SDS deployments which began between 1970 and 1979. Opening statements were delivered by those Core Participants with direct involvement or interest in this period, and evidence was heard from former undercover officers and civilian witnesses from this time.
   
   A copy of the Met’s opening statement setting out its position regarding this period is available.
   
   

3. The Tranche 1 Phase 3 Hearing ran from 9 May to 20 May 2022. During this phase, the Inquiry heard evidence primarily from SDS officers who had managerial roles between 1968-1982.

   The Met’s opening statement for Tranche 1 Phase 3, which was published by the Inquiry on 9 May 2022, is available.
   
   

4. On 20 February 2023, the Met gave its closing statement in relation to the evidence in Tranche 1. 
   
   A copy of the Met's closing statement
   
   

5. On 29 June 2023, the Undercover Policing Inquiry published its Tranche 1 Interim Report.

   A copy of the Tranche 1 Interim Report

   The interim report covers the Inquiry's investigations into SDS officers and managers and those affected by deployments from 1968 to 1982. It sets out the Chair’s assessment of the history of the unit. It draws conclusions about the purposes for which it was set up, continued to operate, and the justification for doing so. 

What’s next?

The next stage is the Inquiry's Tranche 2 Evidence Hearings, which has been split into three phases.

1. Phase 1 began on Monday 1 July 2024 and will run until Friday 2 August 2024. The Inquiry will hear from undercover officers, non-state witnesses and those in the SDS supervisory chain of command between approximately 1983 and 1992.
   
   A copy of the Met’s opening statement from Monday 1 July 2024 which sets out our position in relation to some of the key issues in the Inquiry.
   
   
2. Phase 2 will be heard 14 October 2024 to 23 January 2025. Evidence will be heard from former SDS UCOs deployed into Animal Rights groups between 1983 and 1992, non-state/police core participants (NSCPs) affected by those deployments and SDS managers during this period.
   
   
3. Phase 3 will be heard in early 2025. Evidence will be heard in closed from SDS UCOs deployed during the Tranche 2 period (1983 to 1992) all of whom have been granted real and cover name anonymity.