Wiltshire Police completes ‘urgent review’ of Clare’s Law applications

Chief Constable Catherine Roper admitted that this “catastrophic service failure” had resulted in two people being harmed.

In October, Wiltshire Police announced an “urgent review” after making a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) regarding concerns linked to disclosures made under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (known as Clare’s Law) by one member of its staff, who remains suspended from the force and is subject of an independent conduct investigation by the IOPC

As a result of the referral, the force committed to reviewing every single application made to it between April 2015 and August 2023 – which is when the member of staff worked within the Clare’s Law team. This was total of 3,582 applications.

Wiltshire Police says it has now risk assessed each of the 3,582 applications and identified 25 failures in its service.

“We have contacted a significant proportion of the people we identified as requiring immediate contact,” the force said. “There are a small number of people who we’ve been unable to contact or where contacting them directly might not have been safe or appropriate. We will continue to attempt contact where safe to do so”.

“We’ve identified 25 failures in our service. Of this, we know of two failures which have resulted in people being harmed

“Of the other failures, we believe 11 are administrative failures and 12 are service failures, ie, where we should have disclosed and didn’t or where inadequate research was done, etc.”

Wiltshire Police has made a total of four referrals to the IOPC (including the initial referral) which it is independently investigating – two are linked to failures where harm has been caused and the third relates to the organisational response of two previous IOPC referrals involving the same individual in 2019 and 2020

The force said: “We’ve had approximately 45 members of staff moved into the review team to ensure the review is carried out as effectively and swiftly as possible. They have been supported by a large number of other officers from across the force

“We remain fully engaged with the College of Policing who have reviewed our approach in addition to drawing on support and guidance from other police forces, public bodies and specialists in domestic abuse.

“This has included working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council VAWG lead, DCC Maggie Blyth. Wiltshire Police is now part of a national team reviewing how police forces apply the Clare’s Law scheme legislation.”

Ms Roper said: “I was clear when I announced our review in October – this is a catastrophic service failure.

“We let many people down and we now know that our failures may have contributed to at least two people being harmed.

“I am so sorry – I remain appalled that this ever happened and it rightly sent shockwaves throughout our organisation.

“From the moment this came to light, I ensured dedicated resources were put in place to work around the clock to understand where we are failed, who might be at risk as a result of these failures and the urgent action we needed to take.

“The independent IOPC investigation is continuing, and we remain in weekly dialogue with them to discuss further referrals, assist them with their independent investigation and to ensure the right level of scrutiny continues to be applied to the work we are undertaking.

“The completion of 3,582 risk assessments reassures me that we are now able to identify the people who require our immediate support.

“However, I appreciate that this is completion of work which our communities rightly expected us to have done properly the first time around.

“I know we have badly let you down, but I ask again 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 but also the team who are assessing new Clare’s Law applications.”

Wiltshire police and crime commissioner Philip Wilkinson said: “Our residents deserve the best possible police service and I will continually challenge Wiltshire Police to deliver that on their behalf.

“Wiltshire’s chief constable has been very clear in this instance these failures will have impacted some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.

“My primary concern will always be for them – those victims, or potential victims – and ensuring Wiltshire Police has the right amount of people and resources on hand to offer immediate help and support to those most at risk.

“Chief Constable Roper’s open and honest approach to informing communities, and subsequent apology, has my total support but we know many people have been badly let down and these failures may have contributed to at least two people being harmed. I remain appalled and horrified by this.

“However, I would still urge people who think they are risk to come to Wiltshire Police for help. I have been reassured by the chief constable’s leadership and the swift implementation of a robust review, which has ensured the force’s focus will consistently remain on keeping victims safe from further harm and protecting those at risk of becoming potential victims.”