Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers have successfully completed training courses on cyber-crime in the last (a) six and (b) 12 months.

There are a number of training courses dealing with cyber crime available to police officers, for example, through the College of Policing and other external providers. The Home Office does not hold a central record of the number of such training courses. Furthermore, the Home Office does not hold a central record of how many police officers have completed training courses on cyber crime in the last six months or in the last year. However, the Government recognises that driving up cyber knowledge and capabilities at the local policing level is very important, that is why we are delivering training in cyber crime to officers in local police forces funded by the National Cyber Security Programme. The second phase of the Mainstream Cyber Crime Training course was launched on 30 September 2015 by College of Policing. This is a modular course consisting of a series of self-teach and interactive modules accessible to all police officers and staff, and which gives an introduction to how to recognise and investigate cyber crimes.

Cyber Security, including combating cyber crime, is a top priority threat to national security. That is why we have invested over £90 million over the last five years to bolster the law enforcement response, and we will continue to invest. As the Chancellor announced on 17 November, we plan to almost double investment in cyber security, including cyber crime, to £1.9 billion over the next five years. This will enable us to continue to invest in training for police officers at the national, regional and local levels.