Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to increase the number of special constables.

Special constables bring diverse and valuable skills to police forces that strengthen policing and help forces to develop important links with communities. Recruitment and eligibility criteria of special constables are set locally at the discretion of Chief Officers.

The Home Office Employer Supported Policing (ESP) scheme is a partnership between employers and the police service aimed at encouraging employers to enable their staff to volunteer as special constables in the communities they serve. The Home Office will continue to work closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Citizens in Policing Programme and the College of Policing to support the development of a national approach to the attraction and training of special constables.