Commentary on Sections College of Policing Section 130: The College and the IPCC
351.This section inserts a new section 26BA into Part 2 of the Police Reform Act 2002 (“the 2002 Act”) which requires the Independent Police Complaints Commission (“the IPCC”) and the College to enter into an agreement for the establishment of procedures for the handling of complaints against College staff that is akin to the procedures in Part 2 of that Act. Part 2 confers functions on the IPCC in respect of complaints about, or matters indicating, misconduct or death or serious injury involving persons serving with police forces in England and Wales. Such functions include the examination of police forces’ complaint handling procedures and undertaking, managing or supervising investigations into complaints or other matters. The purpose of these provisions is not simply to replicate Part 2 of the 2002 Act, because the arrangements will need to be tailored to the circumstances of the College, but they will ensure that the IPCC has oversight of the College in broadly the same way as it has in relation to the police. The intention is that such an agreement would only relate to those staff of the College who hold the office of constable.