The South Wales Police and Crime Panel met to discuss a finance update, a Police and Crime Panel update, the establishment of a finance sub-group, and a complaints report. The panel approved the terms of reference for the Finance Sub-Group and agreed to note the complaints detailed in Appendix 1 of the complaints report.

Complaints Against the Police and Crime Commissioner

The Panel reviewed a report detailing complaints made against the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales and/or their Deputy since the last report on 6 February 2024. The Senior Solicitor of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council administers the complaints process.

Key points from the report:

• The Elected Local Policing Bodies (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2012, make the South Wales Police and Crime Panel responsible for overseeing complaints about the conduct of the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner.
• The Chair (or Vice-Chair in their absence) and the Monitoring Officer of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council handle the initial stages of complaints, including categorisation, recording, and referral of criminal allegations to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
• Complaints deemed conduct matters or serious complaints are submitted to the IOPC for consideration or investigation.
• The Panel may forward complaints for local resolution to the Police and Crime Commissioner's Chief of Staff, who investigates and provides a summary to the Chair and Monitoring Officer.

The report included a summary of complaints received since the last report, as detailed in Appendix 1. One case, PCP Ref 2024/04, involved a complaint that the Commissioner Alun Michael had assaulted the complainant. There was a further complaint that the current Commissioner Emma Wools had been sexist and racist, evidenced by her total apathy and inaction concerning the incident. The original email of complaint did not come to the attention of the Panel administrator, and a follow-up email was overlooked. The case was referred to the IOPC as it alleged criminal conduct, but was returned to the Panel on 18 February 2025, and then referred to the Chief of Staff for investigation. The complaint against Alun Michael and Emma Wools were not upheld, but the complaint that Torston Bell failed to respond to an email was upheld.

Another complaint, PCP Ref 2024/03, alleged that the Commissioner had failed to monitor key areas of the South Wales Police authority, particularly regarding firearms licensing. The complainant stated that had the Commissioner been monitoring their performance and bench marking their performance against the other Police authorities in Wales, the situation where nobody knows when their firearms applications will be processed would have been avoided. This complaint was not upheld, with the Commissioner's Chief of Staff detailing the monitoring of performance. A report on firearms licensing was submitted at the Panel meeting on 17 June 2025.

The Panel agreed to note the complaints detailed in Appendix 1.

Establishment of a Finance Sub-Group

The Panel considered a report on the establishment of a Finance Sub-Group and its terms of reference. The Police Reform & Social Responsibility Act 2011 gives the Police and Crime Panel the responsibility to review the Police and Crime Commissioner's precept¹. The report set out the proposed Terms of Reference and membership for a Finance Sub-Group to support the Panel in fulfilling its functions in relation to the budget and precept.

The Panel was asked to constitute the Sub-Group for 2025/26 until the Panel's Annual General Meeting in 2026, and to consider and amend the Terms of Reference of the Sub-Group as appropriate.

The report noted that the Panel has the power to veto the Commissioner's annual precept with a two-thirds majority, making it a significant responsibility. Given the limited time the Panel has to consider the Commissioner's precept proposals, it was recommended that a Sub-Group of members be constituted to lead on the financial aspects of the Panel's role.

The proposed Terms of Reference for the Finance Sub-Group included:

• Monitoring and reviewing the South Wales Police/Police and Crime Commissioner's budget proposals (including the proposed precept) and making recommendations to the Panel.
• Developing a good understanding of the South Wales Police/Police & Crime Commissioner's Revenue and Capital budgets, Medium Term Financial Plans, availability of funding, and other relevant financial information.
• Questioning/challenging the Commissioner about the financial information provided in support of the precept and identifying any further information required.
• Carrying out detailed scrutiny of specific budget issues as necessary.
• Providing comment to the Commissioner and/or a steer to the South Wales Police and Crime Panel on action to be taken to address any budget issues identified.
• Leading the discussion when budget issues are discussed by the full Panel, ensuring that other members of the Panel have a good understanding and can make informed decisions.

The Sub-Group would consist of three members of the South Wales Police and Crime Panel, with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman as ex-officio members. The South Wales Police & Crime Commissioner's Chief Finance Officer and/or their staff would also attend as appropriate. Informal meetings would take place twice a year, around June and December, held remotely via TEAMS.

The Panel approved the Terms of Reference for the Finance Sub-Group and agreed to appoint members to the Sub-Group for 2025/26.

Police and Crime Panel Update

The Panel received an update on the Professional Standards Department from T/Chief Superintendent Arabella Rees, Head of the Professional Standards Department. The update addressed queries raised in 2021 regarding the recruitment of individuals with criminal records and the steps taken to exclude those with the potential for certain offences.

South Wales Police has invested in proactive education and awareness raising to ensure accountability against the Standards of Professional Behaviour. This includes scrutiny of recruits and ongoing monitoring of existing staff.

The Force Vetting Unit adheres to the College of Policing Vetting Code of Practice and the associated Vetting Authorised Professional Practice (APP)², which aim to preserve the integrity of the police service and protect the public from harm. The Vetting Unit processes vetting clearance applications for police officers and police staff, and adverse information, such as prior convictions, may be identified. A robust review process, based on the National Decision-Making model, is used to assess potential risks.

In 2024/25, the Force Vetting Unit processed 697 applications for officer and staff roles, rejecting 57 (8%), approving 101 (14.5%) with conditional clearance and mitigation measures, and clearing 539 (77.5%) without issue.

The Vetting Code of Practice and Vetting Authorised Professional Practice (APP) indicate that applications from individuals with previous cautions or convictions will generally be rejected, but each case is considered on its individual merit. Cases involving cautions or convictions for sexual offences, violence, and dishonesty are ordinarily rejected. The Force Vetting Unit adopts a risk-averse approach to such cases.

Five cases where adverse information was identified and clearance was granted are randomly selected and submitted to the Force Vetting Review Panel for scrutiny, including representation from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. Each member of the force is subject to annual vetting review and full vetting renewal.

In early 2025, the Professional Standards Department reinvigorated its approach to improving service delivery expectations and standards of professional behaviour. Improvements include:

• Sharing recruitment interview questions with the Professional Standards Department to ensure ethical/cultural content.
• Sharing a bilingual message from the Head of Professional Standards with prospective new Police Officers and Police Staff, setting out the cultural and ethical standards of the organisation.
• Holding a virtual meeting with prospective new police officers, attended by a senior officer from the Professional Standards Department, to contextualise the Standards of Professional Behaviour.
• Requiring all new Police Officers and Police Staff to attend a welcome meeting with a senior officer from the Professional Standards Department, where they receive a presentation on the Standards & Values of the force and sign a commitment to maintain the highest standards of professional behaviour.
• Presenting officers with moral dilemmas during initial police training to encourage upstander behaviour.
• Including a short video on whistleblowing, followed by a supportive e-learning package, to outline roles and responsibilities in terms of upstander behaviour.
• Briefing new officers on the cultural and ethical expectations of South Wales Police at the conclusion of initial police training.
• Holding regular meetings between the Professional Standards Department and Learning and Development Services to monitor the performance and conduct of student officers.

The Prevent Programme, initially launched in South Wales Police in 2014 as the Early Intervention Programme, aims to support a healthy workplace culture. Refreshed in 2024, the current Prevent programme takes the form of a comprehensive people-intelligence analysis (by Anti-Corruption Unit Practitioners) across an array of stressor and/or enabler indicators, combined into a briefing product overseen by the Anti-Corruption Unit Prevent Manager. The Prevent Programme identifies and tracks individuals (or sometimes teams) with emerging patterns of behaviour of concern and ensures relevant information is provided to local managers to trigger targeted and effective supportive, as well as corrective interventions, at the earliest opportunity. This includes officers and staff exhibiting precursor factors associated with ethical vulnerability. The programme seeks to ensure interventions are delivered in a timely and auditable manner to best support behavioural correction and to better protect and safeguard the officer/staff member, as well as the public.

A new workstream is being designed to improve the organisation's ability to prevent, detect, and recover from prejudicial improper behaviour microcultures, with a roll-out planned for January 2026.

In late 2023, The Angiolini Inquiry³, established following the murder of Sarah Everard, invited South Wales Police to participate in 'Part 2' of their work, which aims to establish if there is a risk of recurrence across policing, investigate police culture, and address concerns surrounding women's safety in public spaces. South Wales Police agreed to participate and formed a team to deliver disclosure bundles, including policies, procedures, training and recruitment materials, and case files. In November 2024, the Angiolini Part 2 inquiry team conducted a site inspection, including interviews, focus groups, and an anonymous electronic survey.