PART 1 Preliminary

4 Interpretation and delegation
1 In these Regulations—
“the 1996 Act” means the Police Act 1996;
“the 2002 Act” means the Police Reform Act 2002;
“the Police Regulations” means the Police Regulations 2003;
“appropriate authority” means the chief officer of police of the police force concerned;
“bank holiday” means a day which is a bank holiday under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 in England and Wales;
“complainant” means the person referred to at section 12(1)(a) to (c) (as the case may be) of the 2002 Act (complaints, matters and persons to which Part 2 applies);
“complaint” has the meaning given to it by section 12(1) of the 2002 Act;
“the Commission” means the Independent Police Complaints Commission established under section 9 of the 2002 Act (the Independent Police Complaints Commission);
“conduct matter” has the meaning given to it by section 12(2) of the 2002 Act;
“document” means anything in which information of any description is recorded and includes any recording of a visual image or images;
“first stage appeal meeting” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 18;
“first stage meeting” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 14;
“gross incompetence” and cognate expressions mean a serious inability or serious failure of a police officer to perform the duties of his rank or the role he is currently undertaking to a satisfactory standard or level, to the extent that dismissal would be justified, except that no account shall be taken of the attendance of a police officer when considering whether he has been grossly incompetent;
“human resources professional” means a police officer or police staff member who has specific responsibility for personnel matters relating to members of a police force;
“interested party” means a person whose appointment could reasonably give rise to a concern as to whether he could act impartially under these Regulations;
“interested person” has the meaning given to it by section 21 of the 2002 Act;
“investigator” means a person appointed or designated under paragraph 16, 17, 18 or 19 of Schedule 3 to the 2002 Act;
“line manager” means the police officer or the police staff member who, in either case, has immediate supervisory responsibility for the officer concerned;
“nominated person” means a person appointed by the senior manager in accordance with regulation 9;
“officer concerned” means the police officer in respect of whom proceedings under these Regulations are, or are proposed to be, taken;
“panel” means a panel appointed by the appropriate authority in accordance with regulation 32 subject to any change to the membership of that panel in accordance with regulation 33 and to the provisions of regulations 46 and 47;
“panel chair” means the chair of the panel;
“police force concerned” means—
(a) where the officer concerned is a member of a police force, the police force of which he is a member; and
(b) where the officer concerned is a special constable, the police force maintained for the police area for which he is appointed;
“police friend” means a person chosen by the officer concerned in accordance with regulation 5;
“police officer” means a member of a police force or a special constable;
“police staff member” means—
(a) a member of the civilian staff of a police force, within the meaning of section 102(4) and (6) of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011; or
(b) an employee of the Common Council of the City of London who is under the direction and control of the Commissioner of the City of London Police;
“proposed witness” means a witness whose attendance at a third stage meeting the officer concerned or the appropriate authority (as the case may be) wishes to request of the panel chair;
“relevant lawyer” has the same meaning as in section 84(4) of the 1996 Act, subject to the provisions of paragraph 35 of Schedule 27 to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008;
“relevant terms of the final written improvement notice” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 25;
“relevant terms of the written improvement notice” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 18;
“second line manager” means the person appointed by the appropriate authority to act as the second line manager for the purposes of these Regulations in relation to the officer concerned and who is either—
(a) a member of the police force concerned having supervisory responsibility for the line manager and who (in a case where the line manager is a member of the force) is senior in rank to the line manager, or
(b) a police staff member who has supervisory responsibility for the line manager;
“second stage appeal meeting” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 25;
“second stage meeting” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 21;
“senior manager” means—
(a) the police officer or police staff member who is for the time being the supervisor of the person who is, in relation to the officer concerned, the second line manager; or
(b) in the absence of such supervisor, the police officer or police staff member nominated by the appropriate authority to carry out any of the functions of such supervisor under these Regulations, being of at least the same rank (or equivalent) as the person who is, in relation to the officer concerned, the second line manager;
“senior officer” means a member of a police force holding a rank above that of chief superintendent;
“staff association” means—
(a) in relation to a member of a police force of the rank of chief inspector or below, the Police Federation of England and Wales; and
(b) in relation to a member of a police force of the rank of superintendent or chief superintendent, the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales;
“third stage meeting” has the meaning assigned to it by regulations 28 and 30;
“unsatisfactory performance procedures” means the procedures set out in these Regulations;
“validity period” has the meaning assigned to it by regulations 17(4), 24(4), 44(7)(d) and (8)(c); and
“working day” means any day other than a Saturday or a Sunday or a day which is a bank holiday or a public holiday in England and Wales.
2002 c. 30. Relevant amendments were made by paragraph 11 of Schedule 2, Schedule 11 and paragraphs 11 to 24 of Schedule 12 to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, paragraph 89 of Schedule 1 to the Police and Justice Act 2006, paragraphs 3 to 19 of Schedule 23 and Part 8 of Schedule 28 to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 and paragraphs 5 and 8 to 22 of Schedule 14 and 300 to 302 of Schedule 16 to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.
S.I. 2003/527. The only relevant amending instrument is S.I. 2006/3449.
1971 c.80.
2008 c. 4.
2 In these Regulations—
(a) references to—
(i) unsatisfactory performance or attendance;
(ii) the performance or attendance of an officer being unsatisfactory,
mean an inability or failure of a police officer to perform the duties of the role or rank he is currently undertaking to a satisfactory standard or level;
(b) “unsatisfactory performance or attendance” may be construed as a reference to unsatisfactory performance and attendance;
(c) “performance or attendance” may be construed as a reference to performance and attendance.
3 Information in documents which are stated to be subject to the harm test under these Regulations shall not be supplied to the officer concerned in so far as the appropriate authority considers that preventing disclosure to him is—
(a) necessary for the purpose of preventing the premature or inappropriate disclosure of information that is relevant to, or may be used in, criminal proceedings;
(b) necessary in the interests of national security;
(c) necessary for the purposes of the prevention or detection of crime, or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders;
(d) necessary for the purpose of the prevention or detection of misconduct by police officers or police staff members or their apprehension for such matters;
(e) justified on the grounds that providing the information would involve disproportionate effort in comparison to the seriousness of the unsatisfactory performance or attendance in question;
(f) necessary and proportionate for the protection of the welfare and safety of any informant or witness; or
(g) otherwise in the public interest.
4 The appropriate authority may, subject to paragraph (5), delegate any of its functions under these Regulations to—
(a) a member of a police force of at least the rank of chief inspector; or
(b) a police staff member who, in the opinion of the appropriate authority is of at least a similar level of seniority to a chief inspector.
5 Where the appropriate authority delegates its functions under regulation 30, the decisions shall be authorised by a senior officer.
6 Any proceedings under these Regulations are disciplinary proceedings for the purposes of section 87 of the 1996 Act.
Section 87 was amended by paragraph 9 of Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 and paragraph 41 of Schedule 16 to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.
7 Any proceedings under these Regulations are disciplinary proceedings within the meaning of section 29(1) of the 2002 Act, but only for the purposes of the following provisions of that Act—
(a) section 22;
(b) section 36;
(c) paragraph 22 of Schedule 3;
(d) paragraph 23 of Schedule 3;
(e) paragraph 25 of Schedule 3; and
(f) paragraph 27 of Schedule 3.