Police: Schools

(asked on 23rd June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what role senior school staff play in the line management of schools-based police officers.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 30th June 2020

There are good examples of joint working between police forces and schools. Many schools have links with their local police forces and police officers play an important role in schools, engaging with and mentoring pupils. However, the detail is held and decisions made about these relationships are rightly made at a local level between schools who know their pupils and police forces who know their local neighbourhoods.

Matters of oversight, remit and any complaints will all be dealt with locally. Accordingly, the Department does not gather nor hold information on the number of partnerships, the number of officers based in any school or the number of officers supporting personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education.

It is right for schools to have the flexibility to work with external organisations to support the delivery of their PSHE programme to enhance teaching. As with any visitor, where a school invites external agencies, including police forces, into school they are responsible for ensuring they check the visitor’s and organisation’s credentials as well as the details of their session to ensure it fits with their planned programme. Schools should also adhere to the Keeping Children Safe in Education Guidance and agree in advance of the session how safeguarding reports should be dealt with.

The Department has not conducted an assessment on the effect of school-based police officers on Black, Asian and minority ethnic pupils or the educational attainment gap where such officers are deployed. We trust schools to do what is best for their pupils and believe they are best placed to decide how to utilise school-based police.

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