Independent scrutiny of the police is essential in providing greater accountability to the public, building trust across all communities and in helping Thames Valley Police drive improvements in service and standards.

There are three types of independent panel that support the PCC in his duty of oversight of the force: Governance, Scrutiny and Advisory. Collectively, these elements provide a robust and transparent approach to independent scrutiny. 

Information on each group as well as details of how you can get involved in the independent scrutiny of Thames Valley Police can be found through the links below.

Governance

These groups are focussed on structure and processes for decision making, accountability, control and behaviour. Therefore, these are almost always statutory bodies in this context. They may make recommendations for others to consider, but they may also be able to dictate actions which must be followed.

Scrutiny

These groups make critical observations and examine evidence to comment on past activity and specific incidents or data with the intention of making changes for the future. They may make recommendations, possibly about specific issues which are not required to be followed but should, as a minimum, be responded to.

Advisory

These groups may consider past, present or future scenarios to provide advice to decision makers. The remit of these groups is generally broader than those of scrutiny groups although they may still be required to receive specific data.