POLICE RECRUITS. (Hansard, 29 June 1939)

§ 84. Mr. Thorneycroft
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the nature of the instructions issued by him to the appropriate authorities upon the acceptance of recruits for the police force before such recruits have completed their Militia training?

§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Peake)
The appointment of recruits to the police forces is a matter for the individual police authorities or chief officers of police, as the case 598 may be. As regards future applicants it is anticipated that as a rule they will perform their military training before joining the police, but as regards applicants who have already been accepted the attention of chief constables has been drawn to the provisions of Section 7 of the Military Training Act, 1939, and it has been pointed out that they should not alter any arrangements made with intending recruits by reason of their military obligations.

§ Mr. Thorneycroft
Do I understand that the police authorities have been, or have not been given instructions by my right hon. Friend as to the acceptance or refusal of recruits before they have completed their military training?

§ Mr. Peake
We certainly have not given any instructions upon this point. It is a matter for the local police authorities, but we do anticipate that in the future the general practice will be for applicants for the police force to do their training before joining that force.

§ Mr. Thorneycroft
Does my hon. Friend realise that if private employers adopted this attitude very few young men between the ages of 19 and 20 would be able to get a job at all, and will he therefore instruct the police authorities that the passing of the Military Training Act should make no difference to the acceptance of recruits?

§ Mr. Peake
No, Sir; I think that my hon. Friend is under a misunderstanding. There is no fixed age for joining the police force. Men are accepted at very many varying ages. As far as the younger applicants are concerned, they can apply under Section 1 of the Military Training Act for permission to undergo their training at an earlier age than 20.