Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce levels of variation between police forces in relation to training, deployment, equipment and operational roles for special constables.

In the Police Reform White Paper the Home Secretary announced the most significant reforms to policing in 200 years. As part of this, we have committed to increasing the number of volunteers in neighbourhood policing, including special constables, by working with policing to attract new special constables, improving and streamlining the recruitment process and better integrating special constables into wider policing.

Forces are responsible for the local delivery of training and managing promotion processes for special constables. The College of Policing supports forces on the development and progression of special constables’ learning alongside guidance on continuous professional development. It also sets the Special Constable Policing Professional Profile, which outlines the core training, skills, and responsibilities for special constables in line with the national police curriculum.

Special constables’ powers and responsibilities are set out in legislation, and forces are responsible for deploying special constables in a way that reflects local operational need while maintaining public confidence and officer safety.