17-07-2025
Labour risks making it harder to sack rogue police, warns ex-Met chief
Angela Rayner's workers' rights reforms risks making it harder to sack rogue police officers, the former head of the Metropolitan Police has warned.
Lord Hogan-Howe, who was Britain's most senior police officer for six years, said he was concerned that plans to shorten probation periods meant more officers who should be removed would remain in the force.
He told peers: 'The two-year probationary period has always been a good way in which to remove those people who should be dismissed or aren't suited to the role.
'So if we were to scrap that two-year period, one of the measures by which we get rid of the worst officers will be lost. I do worry about that.'
He added: 'Police officers are not employees and it's already quite difficult to remove the ones who should be [removed].'
Under Ms Rayner's Employment Rights Bill, workers will have the right to take their employers to court for unfair dismissal from the first day of a new job. Currently, people must be employed for at least two years before they qualify for these powers. The plans have sparked concerns that businesses could be inundated with tribunal claims.
Lord Hogan-Howe said lawmakers should also 'pay particular attention to' the impact on policing – following a series of high-profile scandals involving rogue officers.
He said: 'Often the officers who turn bad later should have been removed in their probationary period, had everyone had the courage to take that decision.'
The former Met chief told peers on Wednesday that he wanted more clarity from the Government on how the package of reforms would affect the police. Police officers are servants of the Crown rather than employees in the typical sense.
There have been serious concerns about the police vetting process ever since the murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met officer Wayne Couzens in 2021.
An inquiry branded him a 'predatory sex offender and murderer' who should have never been a police officer, with a history of sexual offending dating back to 1995.
In a 347-page report published last year, Dame Elish Angiolini said there had been a 'lamentable and repeated failure' to deal with allegations reported to police before Ms Everard's murder in south London.
In a separate case, former Metropolitan police officer David Carrick was jailed for 30 years in 2023 for raping and assaulting 13 women.
That year, Baroness Louise Casey highlighted examples of racist, homophobic and misogynistic behaviour amongst serving officers in the Metropolitan Police and warned that there might be another Wayne Couzens or David Carrick hiding in the ranks.
Her report said a toxic culture of blame sought to pin responsibility for the widespread and 'institutionalised' misbehaviour on 'bad apples' with a 'strong tendency to look for a positive spin'.
The report documented several failures to properly investigate claims of sexual assault and said racist and other discriminatory behaviour was often 'tolerated, ignored or dismissed as 'banter''.
Earlier this year, police chiefs were handed new powers to sack officers who failed background checks under measures intended to strengthen faith in policing.
A government spokesman said: 'Officers who fall seriously short of the standards expected have no place in our police and we must ensure they can be dismissed as swiftly as possible. That's why we have introduced new rules to strengthen the ability for police chiefs to clear out their forces of officers unfit to serve and the Employments Rights Bill will in no way impact their ability to do this.'