Additional service failures identified as Claire’s Law review continues

Wiltshire Police have provided an update on the progress of their urgent review of more than 3,500 Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (known as Clare’s Law) applications since 2015.

In October, they announced the review after making a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) regarding concerns linked to disclosures made under the scheme by one member of Wiltshire Police staff.

The IOPC has determined that they will independently investigate these allegations, and Wiltshire Police have made further referrals to them regarding additional concerns they’ve subsequently identified.

To provide the governance needed to ensure the review – which is looking at all 3,582 applications made between April 2015 and August 2023 – is conducted as effectively and efficiently as possible, Chief Constable Catherine Roper has appointed Assistant Chief Officer Craig Dibdin as the strategic lead to oversee this work.

In turn, ACO Dibdin has appointed the head of Professional Standards to support the review’s oversight and appointed a Detective Chief Inspector as a dedicated Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) to provide investigative direction and accountability.

Thirty-six members of staff have been moved to work solely on the review team, and they will be supported by a significant number of officers as part of their weekly protected learning days (for example, more than 60 officers will be supporting the review team this week alone). Additional researchers and supervisors will also be sought to support any new Clare’s Law application made to us.

In terms of updates coming out of the review team since they were established last month;

• Additional service failures have been identified
• As a result, three further referrals into the IOPC have been made – two of these relate to incidents where Wiltshire Police failed to protect someone after information had been requested
• Whilst it would not be helpful to provide a running commentary on the review figures – as these are everchanging – police confirmed that a number of applications have already been reviewed and, where any failures have been identified, these reviews are now being urgently progressed and face to face meetings with the person who submitted the original review are taking place
• The member of staff who is subject of the ongoing IOPC investigation had been the subject of IOPC referrals in 2019 and 2020
• One of three additional referrals made to the IOPC is in relation to the wider organisation and our response to the two previous IOPC investigations (in 2019 and 2020)
• Wiltshire Police are in discussion with the IOPC regarding a further referral
• However, at this stage, it is important to state that the IOPC have not confirmed how these new referrals will be managed.
• Wiltshire Police are working with local and national stakeholders and partners to provide advice on the review process – these include other police forces and national government agencies.

Chief Constable Catherine Roper said: “Last month, I made a commitment to our communities that we would continue to be transparent as we work through our review.

“Having now reviewed more applications, we know there have been additional failures to disclose information which may have protected those most at risk from domestic violence.

“Once again, I would like to wholeheartedly apologise to all those we have let down.

“My officers and staff continue to prioritise those most at risk from harm and will be arranging urgent face to face meetings to disclose important information and offer safeguarding advice.

“All additional failures in services will be referred into the IOPC to ensure the right level of independent scrutiny is applied.

“Finally, I would like to repeat my plea to our communities – I know we have badly let you down, but I am asking for your trust and urge you to come forward if you have any concerns or information regarding people at risk of domestic abuse.

“We have put more scrutiny in place than we’ve ever had into both the ongoing review and into the team who are assessing new Clare’s Law applications.”