Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the training of new police recruits can safely continue during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Home Office has worked closely with policing partners to ensure the training of new police recruits can safety continue during the Covid-19 pandemic. This has included working with the College of Policing which is responsible for setting standards in policing, including those for officer training.

In response to Covid-19, in April 2020 the College of Policing issued emergency guidance to all forces on the safe deployment of newly recruited officers into accompanied frontline roles as quickly as possible to support operational resilience. These measures are currently in place until March 2021 when the College will review the ongoing Covid-19 situation.

In addition, on 7 January the Department for Education issued its latest guidance on Higher Education Institutes (HEI) and Covid. This confirms policing courses, that include an HEI component, are included in a list of courses that can continue to be delivered face to face, minimising disruption to initial training.