According to the High Court, The Metropolitan Police can’t dismiss officers and staff they deem unsuitable because their vetting clearance has been removed.
Sir Mark Rowley said that the Met Police commissioner was “in a hopeless situation” with the ruling and the service will seek permission to appeal.
Sadiq Khan said in a statement that this decision had significant implications for what the Met was doing now to clean up its force, raise standards, and get rid of those who were unfit to work.
He said: “Nobody who fails vetting in the police should continue to work there and we will be working closely with the Home Office, the Commissioner and our partners to assess the consequences of this decision.”
In what has been described as a “test case” challenging the Met’s cleaning-up operation, Sgt Lino di Maria filed a judicial appeal arguing that his vetting clearance had been revoked unlawfully.
The crackdown came after a series scandals in the Met following the conviction of Wayne Couzens, convicted of the rape of Sarah Everard and her murder in 2021.
Di Maria’s clearance has been withdrawn due to unproven allegations of his conduct including rape and sexual assault, which he denies. He has never been charged or convicted for any crime.
In her judgement, Ms Justice Lang stated that the Met does not have the power to dismiss a policeman for the reason of the withdrawal of the vetting clearance.
She said that the Secretary of state should make regulations under Section 50(3) of Police Act 1996 to cover dismissal. This results in a situation that is anomalous, whereby officers who don’t have a basic clearance can’t be dismissed by the defendant. I believe that this anomaly should and could be corrected by regulation.
Rowley stated: “For over two decades, police leaders have asked the government for more powers to dismiss officers who are unfit to wear uniforms. Since two and a half years, I have repeatedly made this call. Successive governments have promised to make changes.
We are committed to public safety. Majority of the Met are committed to this effort to remove those who threaten to our collective integrity. “This makes us better placed for protecting communities.”
He stated that it is important to be able to dismiss officers who do not pass vetting. In the last 18 months, 96 officers were sacked or quit due to removal of their clearance. 29 officers are currently on special vetting leaves after losing their clearance.
‘Hopeless position’
Rowley said, “Those who we removed the vetting process from had a pattern that would mean if they applied for work in police today, we wouldn’t let them in.” The law’s decision today has left the police in an impossible position.
“We have no way to get rid of the officers in the Met who are unfit to conduct vetting. They cannot be trusted with women, or to enter homes of vulnerable people.
It is absurd to not be able to legally sack someone – it would never happen in any other sector where the staff has no powers comparable to those of a police officer.
Rowley called the Metropolitan Police Federation “crazy” last month for filing the judicial review.
Matt Cane, the general secretary of the MPF, stated that the MPF had been “honestly shocked” at the time by his remarks.
“Surely, the most senior officer of the police force should know the law and follow it.” He said that a group who wants their police to follow the laws of our country, rather than break them, should not be labelled as “crazy”.
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