I am writing this statement in relation to an article by the Disability News Service published on the 30th October 2025.
Prior to his retirement, Dave Campbell was Vice President of the Disabled Police Association. Dave shared the findings from the Business Disability Forum review with me. This showed employment tribunals in the Metropolitan Police Service have increased by 60% since the Baroness Casey Review, along with other key statistics.
I am grateful for our professional working relationship, as the content of the article was not a shock to me. I used these statistics when addressing our Disability In Policing Conference in September this year to raise awareness.
Despite this article and the Casey Review being based on the Met Police, I am clear that the issues highlighted here are replicated across England and Wales. Employment tribunals for disability are the highest out of all protected characteristics nationally.
Due to funding cuts in police budgets, the DPA are seeing the situation deteriorate further. Numerous equality, diversity and inclusion posts are being removed in Forces and within the College of Policing, resulting in police staff redundancies. I have lost two of my DPA committee members to redundancies from these teams.
My message is clear: this is a perverse outcome. The cost of an average employment tribunal is over £100,000, so if these teams prevent only a handful of employment tribunals, they pay for themselves. The Police Federation estimate that £8.5 million of public money has been spent on employment tribunals and grievances in a three-year period.
Based on the above information, I created the DPA Pledge earlier this year, requesting all Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners sign up to show their commitment to their staff. The DPA will hold police forces to account, but also support them by producing guidance, raising awareness and identifying barriers to achieve the points of our Pledge.
The Met is the largest police force in the UK, and other Forces often replicate their policies. This is why I regularly meet with Commander Simon Messinger, Senior Disability Lead with the Met Police, to have the difficult discussions around disability matters. I would welcome all Forces to approach the DPA for consultation in any future impactive policy decisions prior to their implementation, in the hope that positive outcomes can be achieved, and areas of contention are highlighted at the drafting stage.
The DPA are committed to working with all police forces to improve the lives of officers, staff and volunteers at work, so that they can fulfil their potential and provide the service the public expect.
Andrea Shoetan
President | Disabled Police Association
