It is a “ridiculous waste of taxpayers’ money” to pay for police officers who cannot be sacked to sit at home, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has said.
The High Court ruled on Tuesday that the force did not have the power to dismiss officers because they failed their vetting – a background check used to identify unsuitable individuals.
Sir Mark said those unable to be sacked would be put on special leave and paid in full, at a potential cost of “millions of pounds” depending on “how long this takes to fix”.
“They won’t be policing the streets, they won’t be attending your calls,” Sir Mark, who heads the UK’s largest police force, said.
Twenty-nine Met officers and staff are currently on special vetting leave, he said on Wednesday, and are “almost entirely men”.
Most of the cases relate “to sexually bad attitudes” and violence towards women and girls, Sir Mark told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“Regardless of the legal ruling, those that we have concerns about, even if we can’t dismiss them, they’ll be on special leave, they will be sitting at home.”
The High Court’s ruling came after Sgt Lino Di Maria mounted a legal challenge over having his vetting removed following sexual assault allegations, which he denied and was not charged over.
Mrs Justice Lang said the dismissal process the force had used was unlawful, as those suspected of wrongdoing did not have an opportunity to defend themselves.
Sgt Di Maria was found to have no case to answer in respect of misconduct allegations, and argued that having his vetting removed without the accusations being proven was a breach of his right to a fair trial.
But Sir Mark said the ruling left the Met without any mechanism to get rid of officers who were not fit to keep their vetted status, and that it would appeal against the decision.
He said this left the policing in a “hopeless position”.
Met Police vetting is a background check on new applicants and current officers – which can include checks on criminal records, finances, and close associates – to identify unsuitable individuals.
An independent report into the murder of Sarah Everard by police officer Wayne Couzens in March 2021 called for police vetting procedures to be overhauled.
Sir Mark said the process of dismissing unfit officers had been a problem for the force for “more than 20 years” and blamed “a failure of Home Office officials to sort the regulations out”.
Mrs Justice Lang ruled that the Met’s powers did not “extend to the dismissal of a police officer by reason of withdrawal of vetting clearance” and said dismissal should be provided for in regulations from the home secretary, which they are currently not.
Sir Mark said during his two-and-a-half years as Met commissioner, all three home secretaries had shown a commitment to resolving the matter but civil servants had “dragged their feet”.
“It’s only in last few days they’ve actually started to listen to us about what’s required to fix this.”
He said a timeline for resolving the issue was needed within weeks.
Following Tuesday’s ruling, a Home Office spokesperson said it was “acting rapidly” to ensure police forces could “dismiss officers who cannot maintain vetting clearance”.
