Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the total cost to police forces in England and Wales of delivering the College of Policing Anti-Racism Training and related race‑equity programmes since 2022; and how this spending has been funded, including through central government grants and local police funding.

Everyone is equal under the law and the police must act without fear or favour. All communities deserve to have trust and confidence in the police and there is no place for racism or intolerance in policing. We expect high standards of conduct from police officers, who respond to the crimes that they face across the country and to the perpetrators of those crimes whosoever they should be and wheresoever they are.

It is therefore right that police are properly trained to uphold the Code of Ethics, which requires all police officers and staff to make impartial and fair decisions free from prejudice. This principle is at the heart of police practice and is the cornerstone of police training.

The College of Policing sets clear national standards for police training through the Police National Curriculum and Authorised Professional Practice. This provides officers and forces with a single, authoritative reference point for what good practice looks like across core areas of policing. The College has not issued any national anti‑racism training package.

Forces also provide local training and ongoing development to reflect and reinforce organisational values, including diversity and equality. Forces are operationally independent and the Home Office does not collect information about individual force training programmes.

Chief Constables are ultimately responsible for the delivery of efficient and effective policing, as well as the management of resources and expenditure. It is a matter for Chiefs to decide how to best use resources and this includes ensuring that officers and staff are appropriately trained and equipped for their role on an ongoing basis and that standards of professional behaviour are upheld.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), which is independent of Government, is rightly reviewing the wording of its Policing Anti-Racism Commitment to ensure there is no ambiguity or suggestion of differential treatment. The NPCC is responsible for ensuring that their duties under the Equality Act are met in relation to the work of the Police Race Action Plan. The Home Office does not produce equality impact assessments in respect of material produced by external bodies.