Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure public safety in relation to emergency response driving.

The Home Office supports police objectives to keep the public safe and ensure that officers can provide an emergency response, rapidly and effectively, to attend incidents. Police investment in technology for vehicle safety, along with guidance issued by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing on response driving, help forces to achieve rapid responses and ensure public safety.

Police drivers must undergo comprehensive training at several levels throughout their career and they have a duty to ensure that their standard of driving is consistent with their training.

The development and maintenance of police driver training standards, along with driving-related curricula, are led by the College of Policing, with support from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, both of whom have expertise in this area of police operations.