Asked by: Jonathan Hinder (Labour - Pendle and Clitheroe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of police misconduct proceedings being publicly available on police officer mental health.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the significant psychological demands of policing and is committed to ensuring officers are supported throughout their careers, from initial training through to retirement. The College of Policing sets clear standards for forces through the National Policing Curriculum for initial training. This includes required content on preparing officers for the operational and emotional demands of the role.
We are also taking further action through the Government’s Police Reform White Paper, including strengthening trauma prevention and early intervention and providing protected time for trauma and suicide prevention training for new recruits and supervisors to help build resilience and ensure officers receive the support they need throughout their careers.
While the Home Office is not undertaking research in this area directly, we continue to fund the College of Policing’s National Police Wellbeing Service, which works to develop and promote evidence-based approaches to psychological wellbeing and trauma support.
The presumption is that misconduct hearings, held for officers facing serious allegations of gross misconduct, should be open for the public and media to attend. This is in keeping with a general principle that discipline proceedings are as open, transparent and fair as possible for both the public and parties to the procedures.
However, by exception, misconduct hearings may be held in private, or reporting restrictions may apply when circumstances outweigh the public interest. This could be to protect sensitive operational or national security material or to safeguard individuals involved.
It is critical that officers involved in disciplinary procedures receive the support they need and that due process is maintained in accordance with principles of fairness and natural justice. The Police Reform White Paper commits to improving the consistency of wellbeing support across policing, including introducing more consistent wellbeing checks throughout officers’ careers to help identify and respond to wellbeing needs at an early stage.
Asked by: Jonathan Hinder (Labour - Pendle and Clitheroe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what research is being undertaken into building mental resilience and treating trauma in serving police officers.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the significant psychological demands of policing and is committed to ensuring officers are supported throughout their careers, from initial training through to retirement. The College of Policing sets clear standards for forces through the National Policing Curriculum for initial training. This includes required content on preparing officers for the operational and emotional demands of the role.
We are also taking further action through the Government’s Police Reform White Paper, including strengthening trauma prevention and early intervention and providing protected time for trauma and suicide prevention training for new recruits and supervisors to help build resilience and ensure officers receive the support they need throughout their careers.
While the Home Office is not undertaking research in this area directly, we continue to fund the College of Policing’s National Police Wellbeing Service, which works to develop and promote evidence-based approaches to psychological wellbeing and trauma support.
The presumption is that misconduct hearings, held for officers facing serious allegations of gross misconduct, should be open for the public and media to attend. This is in keeping with a general principle that discipline proceedings are as open, transparent and fair as possible for both the public and parties to the procedures.
However, by exception, misconduct hearings may be held in private, or reporting restrictions may apply when circumstances outweigh the public interest. This could be to protect sensitive operational or national security material or to safeguard individuals involved.
It is critical that officers involved in disciplinary procedures receive the support they need and that due process is maintained in accordance with principles of fairness and natural justice. The Police Reform White Paper commits to improving the consistency of wellbeing support across policing, including introducing more consistent wellbeing checks throughout officers’ careers to help identify and respond to wellbeing needs at an early stage.
Asked by: Jonathan Hinder (Labour - Pendle and Clitheroe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that police officer initial training equips officers with adequate mental resilience.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the significant psychological demands of policing and is committed to ensuring officers are supported throughout their careers, from initial training through to retirement. The College of Policing sets clear standards for forces through the National Policing Curriculum for initial training. This includes required content on preparing officers for the operational and emotional demands of the role.
We are also taking further action through the Government’s Police Reform White Paper, including strengthening trauma prevention and early intervention and providing protected time for trauma and suicide prevention training for new recruits and supervisors to help build resilience and ensure officers receive the support they need throughout their careers.
While the Home Office is not undertaking research in this area directly, we continue to fund the College of Policing’s National Police Wellbeing Service, which works to develop and promote evidence-based approaches to psychological wellbeing and trauma support.
The presumption is that misconduct hearings, held for officers facing serious allegations of gross misconduct, should be open for the public and media to attend. This is in keeping with a general principle that discipline proceedings are as open, transparent and fair as possible for both the public and parties to the procedures.
However, by exception, misconduct hearings may be held in private, or reporting restrictions may apply when circumstances outweigh the public interest. This could be to protect sensitive operational or national security material or to safeguard individuals involved.
It is critical that officers involved in disciplinary procedures receive the support they need and that due process is maintained in accordance with principles of fairness and natural justice. The Police Reform White Paper commits to improving the consistency of wellbeing support across policing, including introducing more consistent wellbeing checks throughout officers’ careers to help identify and respond to wellbeing needs at an early stage.
Asked by: Jonathan Hinder (Labour - Pendle and Clitheroe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of serving police officers have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect data on the number of police officers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The Government recognises the significant psychological demands of policing and is committed to ensuring officers are supported throughout their careers.
Through the measures set out in the Government’s Police Reform White Paper, we are taking steps to strengthen support for the policing workforce, including improving wellbeing provision, embedding consistent wellbeing standards across policing and strengthening the delivery of the Police Covenant to ensure officers receive the support they need throughout their careers.
Asked by: Jonathan Hinder (Labour - Pendle and Clitheroe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of police funding was derived from the police precept in (a) 1996 and (b) 2006.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Due to significant changes in the structure of police funding and policing in England and Wales in the financial year ending March 2016, it is difficult to make a direct comparison of the proportion of total police funding that was derived from police precept over the requested period of time.
However, the overall level of police precept in 1996-97 was £832.8 million and in 2006-07 was £2,639.5 million.
Further historical information regarding police funding for England and Wales is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/central-government-police-funding
Asked by: Jonathan Hinder (Labour - Pendle and Clitheroe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish the outcome of the Police Activity Survey; and what plans she has to conduct a further such survey.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office conducted the Police Activity Survey over a one-week period in February 2023, with 35 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales participating. The survey was designed to improve understanding of how police time is allocated across different activities. A report presenting the results from the survey is being finalised within the department ahead of publication.
The department is currently considering the feasibility of conducting the survey again although this is in early stages. We will engage with police forces ahead of a decision to proceed.
Asked by: Jonathan Hinder (Labour - Pendle and Clitheroe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press notice entitled Landmark package to pursue domestic abuse perpetrators, published on 16 July 2025, whether the Drive Project rollout will be the subject of (a) an impact evaluation and (b) a randomised controlled trial.
Answered by Jess Phillips
The Home Office is investing £53 million to roll out the Drive Project over the next four years. The Drive Project is a multi-agency, intensive case management approach for the highest risk, highest harm serial perpetrators of domestic abuse perpetrators. This is a key measure in the Government's commitment to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade.
The Drive Project pilot was the subject of a robust impact evaluation - between 2016 and 2019, the University of Bristol conducted evaluation to measure The Drive Project's effectiveness in reducing abuse, using a randomised control design.
We are working closely with The Drive Partnership to develop plans for monitoring and evaluation of the rollout, ensuring that the approach builds on what has come before.
Asked by: Jonathan Hinder (Labour - Pendle and Clitheroe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made on the independent review into the Police Federation of England and Wales.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Police Federation of England and Wales has appointed an independent panel to review past failings and future governance of the organisation. That review is independent of Government; the progress of the review and the publication of its findings are matters for the independent panel and the Police Federation.