Acting Deputy National Secretary Melanie Warnes said: “The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) supports establishing robust mechanisms for dealing with individuals who are not fit to wear the uniform and our focus has always been on fairness from a process perspective. However, the regulation changes set to go ahead completely go against what we warned in our submissions to the Home Office.

“The new rules establish a binding expectation on chief officers to sack officers even before they can appeal against the gross misconduct ruling of the panel, which is also presided over by chief officers.

“There is a rebuttable presumption that all officers against who the panel has found gross misconduct will be sacked unless there are exceptional circumstances and the PFEW would seek more clarity from the Government on what constitutes exceptional circumstances.

“Allowing chief constables to preside over misconduct hearings and allowing them sweeping powers under presumption of dismissal effectively means an officer is already guilty in the eyes of the chief officer before any evidence is heard and they already know what outcome they want to see.

“The PFEW supported introduction of the Legally Qualified Chairs over a panel presided by chief officers as a democratic and fair process as it allowed officers sound and legally reasoned judgments, reduced appeals, fair and consistent decisions, greater transparency and increased public confidence.

"It was a system which was working, and the Government should have taken steps towards strengthening the role of LQCs, who were unbiased and free of undue political and social pressures.”