Police Complaint Reviews

If you are not satisfied with how your complaint was handled by Greater Manchester Police, then you may be able to request an independent review by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), as the statutory Relevant Review Body.    

Requesting a review

If you have made a complaint against the police, you will receive a letter explaining the outcome and your right to ask for a review of that complaint. That letter will inform you who the Relevant Review Body is and how you can contact them to request a review. If the Relevant Review Body is Greater Manchester Combined Authority then your request will be dealt with by the GMCA Complaints Review Team, which is independent of Greater Manchester Police.

The review cannot reinvestigate the complaint but will consider whether the handling of the complaint was reasonable and proportionate.

You can request a review of your complaint by clicking the link below or by downloading a Word version of the form and returning it to us either via email or post. All requests for review must be received within 28 days of the day after the date of the letter from Greater Manchester Police providing you with the outcome of your complaint. This includes the time your letter spends in the post. Requests received after 28 days may not be allowed unless there are special circumstances.

• Complete our online Police Review form (opens in new tab)
• Download our review request form (Word version)

If you have any questions regarding the review process or need assistance requesting a review you can contact us on the details below:

Email: police.reviews@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk

Postal Address:

Police Complaint Reviews
Greater Manchester Combined Authority,
1st Floor, Churchgate House,
56 Oxford Street, Manchester,
M1 6EU

Before you request a review, please read the information below.

What happens after you make a request for a review?

When we receive your request, we will check with the organisation that dealt with your complaint to confirm who should be dealing with the review.

If we are not the correct organisation to consider your review, we will forward your request to the correct organisation and inform you that we have done so.

If we are the correct organisation, we will acknowledge your request in writing and let you know the likely time to consider your review. You should ensure that you have provided as much detail as possible regarding your original complaint and the reasons for requesting this review.

As part of the review process, we will contact the organisation that dealt with your original complaint to gain access to the relevant information to enable us to conduct your review.

The review will consider whether the complaint was handled reasonably and proportionately. If GMCA finds that the handling of the complaint has not been reasonable and proportionate it will uphold the review and provide a recommendation to the police to take further action.

This decision will be communicated to you in writing, along with a clear and evidence-based rationale. We will aim to provide you with regular updates on the progress of your review.

It is important to understand that we cannot reinvestigate your complaint, we can only assess how your complaint was handled. 

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the Police Review, such matters can only be dealt with  by requesting a Judicial Review “ Further information on this process is available through clicking on the link below:

Form N461: Apply for a judicial review of a decision (Gov.uk)

To find out how we use and manage your data, please view our privacy notice.