UK Undercover Policing Inquiry Final Report

What this countdown tracks

Expected final report of the Undercover Policing Inquiry, targeted for around 30 November 2026. Sir John Mitting, Chair, will deliver findings on covert deployments by the Metropolitan Police Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) and the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU) between 1968 and 2008.

Background

The Undercover Policing Inquiry was established in March 2015 by then-Home Secretary Theresa May after revelations that officers of the SDS had formed long-term intimate and sexual relationships with women, used the identities of dead children for cover, and infiltrated political, environmental, and justice campaigns — including those supporting the family of Stephen Lawrence. The first Chair, Sir Christopher Pitchford, stood down for health reasons; Sir John Mitting, a former High Court judge, took over in 2017.

The SDS operated from 1968 to 2008, deploying roughly 139 officers into left-wing, anti-racist, environmental, and animal-rights groups. The NPOIU ran from 1999 to 2011, with notable exposures including Mark Kennedy (deployed 2003–2010) among environmental activists. The Inquiry has heard evidence in tranches covering successive deployment cohorts; its interim report, published in June 2023, covered the SDS's first decade (1968–1982) and found that "anti-democratic" surveillance of lawful political activity had taken place. Subsequent hearings, running into 2025, covered the 1983–2007 period, including the undercover involvement in prosecutions later found unsafe, the Lawrence-family spying episode, and deceptive sexual relationships. The Inquiry has listed more than 200 non-police core participants, many anonymised. The Metropolitan Police has already paid multi-million-pound civil settlements to more than a dozen women who had relationships with undercover officers without informed consent, and the Crown Prosecution Service's 2015 Operation Herne report acknowledged the scale of the problem. Operation Herne itself, overseen by Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon, preceded the Inquiry and produced findings that have been placed in evidence. Costs have drawn parliamentary attention: the Home Affairs Committee in 2023 described the Inquiry as "the most expensive statutory inquiry in British history" relative to its hearings-to-date.

Why the date matters

The final report is the Inquiry's definitive account after more than a decade of work and an estimated £90 million in costs. It is expected to deliver systemic findings on authorisation, supervision, and records; individual findings on named officers and managers; and recommendations on the future of undercover policing — a regime now governed by the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act 2021. Publication will likely trigger fresh civil claims, Independent Office for Police Conduct referrals, and, for named officers, potential applications to the College of Policing's Gross Misconduct register.

What to watch for

• Named findings on SDS and NPOIU managers and officers.
• Recommendations on statutory authorisation and judicial oversight.
• Commentary on the Stephen Lawrence family surveillance episode.
• Assessment of miscarriage-of-justice risk from undercover evidence.
• Treatment of deceptive sexual relationships and redress.
• Implications for the 2021 CHIS (Criminal Conduct) Act regime.
• Metropolitan Police and Home Office response timetable.

Related events to track

The UK Post Office Horizon Volume 2 report countdown is a parallel institutional-accountability inquiry. The UK Covid Inquiry Module 5 report countdown and final Covid report countdown are the other headline UK statutory-inquiry conclusions of this period.

FAQ

When exactly is the UCPI final report? Targeted for around 30 November 2026; no firm publication date has been announced.

Is the UCPI final report confirmed or expected? Expected — Sir John Mitting has indicated late 2026 as the working target.

Who is responsible for the UCPI final report? Sir John Mitting as Chair, with Counsel to the Inquiry David Barr KC.

Where can I read the official announcement? Updates are posted at https://www.ucpi.org.uk/.