Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2022 to Question 69785 on Police Custody: Children, what estimate she has made of the (a) number of Custody Officers and other relevant staff and (b) proportion of Custody Officers and other relevant staff who have completed the one-day immersive training course as of 1 November 2022.

Police custody is governed by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Codes of Practice which set out the legal framework for the detention, treatment and questioning of persons by police officers. As policing is operationally independent of Government, Chief Constables and elected Police and Crime Commissioners are responsible for the training and operational management of custody suites.

The College of Policing has recently launched a one-day immersive training course for custody officers and staff focusing on high-risk scenarios. This will be available in due course for all police forces in England and Wales to deliver locally and each police force should determine their own training needs and enrol officers and staff onto the course as required. The Home Office do not gather data on the completion of training by police forces.