Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tighten the vetting procedures for (a) police officers and (b) police community support officers; and if she take steps to require that their records should be reviewed annually.

The government recognises significant concerns which have been raised around police vetting. In response, the Home Secretary has asked the College of Policing to strengthen the statutory code of practice for police vetting, making the obligations all forces must legally follow stricter and clearer.

The Government has also commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to conduct a rapid review of all forces’ response to the inspectorate’s recent report into vetting and counter-corruption. This will make sure Chief Officers are taking the necessary action to remove those who are not fit to serve.

The report from HMICFRS recommends reducing the interval period between vetting renewals which we expect will be addressed by the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). The NPCC has also confirmed that it will ask all police forces to check their officers and staff against national police databases. This will help identify anyone who has slipped through the net before vetting standards were toughened and ensure those who are unfit to serve can be rooted out.