#2026/653Police Conduct and Vetting Amendment Regulations 2026
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This law updates police conduct and vetting rules in England and Wales, including rules on suspension, domestic abuse assessments, relevant offences, and who can approve key decisions in misconduct cases. The practical effect is mainly internal to policing. Police forces, senior officers, misconduct decision-makers, and vetting teams need to apply the updated definitions and approval rules from 13 July 2026. The instrument also fixes defects in earlier 2025 regulations.
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Key Changes
- Updates the Police Conduct Regulations 2020 with new and revised definitions, including suspension, domestic abuse assessment, and relevant offence.
- Changes approval rules for delegated decisions on police officer suspension and special misconduct conditions.
- Corrects defects in earlier 2025 police conduct and vetting regulations.
Obligations
What this law requires
From 13 July 2026, police forces and appropriate authorities in England and Wales must apply the amended Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020 definitions for “domestic abuse assessment”, “relevant offence”, “suspend”, and “suspension condition” when handling police conduct matters.
From 13 July 2026, when referring to a police officer as already suspended or not already suspended, police conduct decision-makers must treat suspension under either the Police (Conduct) Regulations or the Vetting Regulations as relevant.