Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of reducing the physical fitness standards required of serving police officers on (a) public safety and (b) operational effectiveness.

Chief Constables are able to locally determine the standards and assessment at recruitment for physical fitness of police officers. At the same time, chief officers have a statutory duty of care to their officers, and the public, and they must, therefore, satisfy themselves that officers can be deployed safely in a role and fulfil the duties of a police officer.

The College of Policing holds guidance to support forces on the implementation of fitness testing and standards for officers. Work is underway, led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and College, to commence a review of the current demands of operational policing to inform future decisions on fitness standards at recruitment.