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The police watchdog is considering the use of special legal powers to place the West Midlands force’s chief constable under investigation.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it was studying the devastating official report on the force’s banning of Israeli fans from a football match in Birmingham last year, which led the home secretary to declare she had lost confidence in Craig Guildford.
Guildford was still in post 24 hours after the report, and despite parties on the left and right calling for him to resign.
The report from Andy Cooke, the chief inspector of constabulary, found the force used “exaggerated” intelligence to justify a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.
Guildford then stuck by that decision, justifying it before MPs on the home affairs committee, and the report said the force made “misleading” statements.
While Cooke leads the policing inspectorate, the IOPC is separate and investigates officers for criminal offences or disciplinary matters.
One source with knowledge of the discussion said those answers to MPs, which Guildford claims were unintentionally misleading, could form grounds for a misconduct inquiry by the IOPC on the grounds of a potential breach of the standards of honesty and integrity, which the rules say officers should maintain.
An IOPC spokesperson said: “We have received a copy of HMICFRS’ [His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services] letter to the home secretary and are carefully considering their findings, alongside other evidence currently available, to inform our decision over whether we should undertake any independent conduct investigations.
“We have been in contact with the Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) in the West Midlands, and the force itself, in recent days to understand what assessments they have made around conduct matters. To date, we have not received any conduct referrals relating to individual officers or members of police staff.”
They added: “We do have the ability to ‘call in’ matters using our powers of initiative, without waiting for a referral, if evidence appears to warrant an independent investigation. We are prepared to use that power if it would be appropriate to do so. It’s important we understand why the appropriate authorities haven’t made a referral before we take that step.”
Under the laws governing policing, Guildford can only be ousted by Simon Foster, the police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands. Foster declined to say that he had confidence in his chief constable.
Sources said the PCC was determined to wait for a public inquisition of Guildford by him on 27 January, a further report from Cooke, as well as one from MPs on the home affairs committee.
If the PCC decides he wants Guildford gone, then a legal process must be followed. One issue is whether the report from Cooke, which he describes as interim and possibly subject to change, is enough grounds to require the chief constable’s resignation – and whether it would withstand legal challenge. Guildford has consulted lawyers and any action by the PCC could be judicially reviewed.
Lisa Townsend, Surrey’s Conservative police and crime commissioner, said: “The responsibility of police and crime commissioners, both in statute and in elected mandate, is clear. We must hold our chief constables to account on behalf of the public.
“In this case, a chief constable has admitted to misleading MPs. At that point I believe his position became untenable and in the absence of his resignation, he should be relieved of his duties.”
Senior cabinet ministers have kept the pressure on Guildford to go.
The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said: “Having watched West Midlands police contradict me, contradict this government and contradict their own evidence in public over recent months, and seeing all of that laid bare in a report that the home secretary brought to this house yesterday, I do want to say to him that I believe it is astonishing that the chief constable remains in post and I hope he will seriously reflect.”
The health secretary, Wes Streeting, said it was “absolutely outrageous” Guildford had not yet gone: “I find it jaw-dropping, actually, that having misled parliament and misled the public, that the chief constable hasn’t resigned.
“I find it even more extraordinary that having lost the confidence of the home secretary, who is also one of his local MPs and still not resign, I just find that absolutely outrageous.”
