BaronessByford asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many special constables have been rejected; and when the new higher recruitment standards, referred to in the letter of 19 February from Lord Bassam of Brighton to Lord Tebbit in response to the debate on police morale on 31 January, will be introduced. [HL1041]
§ Lord Bassamof Brighton: Information regarding the number of unsuccessful applicants to the Special Constabulary is not collected centrally.
The Police Health and Safety Act of 1997 which came into effect on 1 July 1998 brought police officers within the scope of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Police forces must therefore take the necessary measures to safeguard the health and safety of all their officers, whether regulars of specials.
As special constables carry out broadly the same range of duties as the regulars; they need to demonstrate the same skills and be trained and equipped to the same standard as regular officers. This has inevitably meant that recruitment standards for 54WA specials have risen. They are now very similar to those for regular officers. And this has resulted in a number of applicants who might formerly have been accepted into the Special Constabulary being rejected.