Leadership checklist

Supporting and retaining women in policing is not solely a workforce issue; it’s a leadership responsibility. While the representation of women at the entry level has improved in recent years, this progress is not yet reflected consistently at senior ranks. At the same time, forces are operating in a context of increasing demand, workforce pressure and heightened scrutiny around culture, standards and legitimacy. Retaining skilled and experienced women is therefore essential to operational resilience, leadership pipelines and public confidence.

Developed by Skills for Justice, this checklist focuses on the actions that matter most. Rather than assessing whether policies and frameworks exist, it challenges leaders to examine what they actively do, model and resource through their behaviour, decision-making and governance. The checklist is aligned with the workforce and inclusion focus of the HMICFRS PEEL Assessment Framework (2025-2027) and is designed to support inspection readiness alongside longer-term organisational improvement.

The checklist is intended for use by executive and senior leadership teams as a self-assessment tool, a framework for strategic discussion, or a prompt for people boards, governance structures and leadership development activity. Forces can also embed it into appraisal and performance objectives to strengthen accountability for inclusion outcomes.