Complaints and Standards Committee
A joint committee between the Chief Constable and the PCC, the purpose of the Complaints and Standards Committee (C&SC) is to conduct regular, thorough reviews of the complaint-handling and review processes within the force and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC).
This includes identifying any discrepancies between the force and OPCC’s perception of proper procedures and the actual experiences of the end user but does not extend to adjudicating on individual complaints.
The Complaints and Standards Committee is a scrutiny group. It:
- assesses the facts of complaints and the effectiveness of their handling and investigation in line with the relevant statutory guidance.
- helps to ensure that Thames Valley Police achieves the highest levels of integrity and service delivery, thereby enhancing trust and confidence in local policing.
It does not investigate individual complaints or overturn police decisions.
The Committee
Meet some of the committee members
Meetings and output
The Complaints and Standards Committee have met in December 2024 and in February and April 2025.
During this period, the Committee has scrutinised 23 informal complaint cases. Please see an overview of the cases reviewed.
| Meeting date | Minutes and papers |
|---|---|
| Thursday 5 June 2005 | Minutes |
| Thursday 7 August 2025 | Minutes Report on positive scrutiny undertaken Scrutiny Q&A |
| Wednesday 1 October 2025 | Minutes |
| Thursday 4 December 2025 | |
| Thursday 5 February 2026 |
The role of the IOPC
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is the police complaints watchdog for England and Wales. They investigate the most serious complaints and conduct matters and set the standards by which the police should handle complaints.
Hear from Daniel Palmer, IOPC’s Stakeholder Engagement Officer about it role in independent scrutiny and the benefit that community scrutiny brings to increasing trust and confidence in the police complaint process.
The OPCC has a role in monitoring how the police respond to complaints, but does not become involved in complaint investigations against Thames Valley Police or any of its officers or staff. The appropriate authority in law to deal with complaints and expressions of dissatisfaction is Thames Valley Police’s Professional Standards Department (PSD). To find out more about the complaints process and how to make a complaint, please visit our Complaints page.
Get involved
Committee members are expected to commit up to 2 working days (16 hours) a month to Committee responsibilities (which will be distributed across multiple tasks) and will meet on a quarterly basis.
C&SC members must be 18 years or over and live, work or study within TVP. They must not be a serving TVP police officer, member of staff, Independent Member or Legally Qualified Person for misconduct panels.
If you are interested in becoming a committee member, please email scrutiny@thamesvalley.police.uk to find out more.