Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that people who have a criminal record for drug use are able to join the police force.

The College of Policing published their statutory Vetting Code of Practice on 12 October 2017 which sets out the vetting standards which are to be applied by police forces in England and Wales.

These standards are designed to ensure that the public is confident that police vetting processes are effective in identifying those who pose a potential risk to others or who are otherwise unsuitable for working within the police force.

The Vetting Code states that whilst the presumption is that an individual with a previous conviction would not be suitable for appointment as an officer, each case must be considered on its own merit and factors that should be considered include the nature and severity of the offence and the age of the individual at the time they committed the offence. Rejection should be automatic where an offence resulted in a custodial sentence or the applicant is a registered sex offender.