§ Mr. Clark Hutchisonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is satisfied about the structure of promotion, particularly for younger police constables, in the Scottish police forces; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Ross:I consider it desirable to give chief constables, who are responsible for promotion within their forces, greater discretion to consider the merits of younger, promising men and I have accordingly prepared draft regulations which will be before the Police Advisory Board for Scotland later this week. These regulations would abolish the present requirement that a constable should serve a minimum of five years before he can be promoted to sergeant; reduce the minimum period of service before a constable can sit the promotion examination from four years to two; and exempt officers who have successfully completed the accelerated promotion course at the Scottish Police College from the requirement to pass the qualifying examination to inspector.