§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department gives to police authorities with regard to insuring special constables; and if he will make a statement. [40859]
§ Mr. MichaelArrangements to compensate special constables who are injured on duty are contained in the Special Constables Regulations. The courts have held that, where a statutory scheme exists, supplementary payments are unlawful because the statutory scheme is exhaustive. The Police (Insurance of Voluntary Assistants) Act 1997, which came into effect on 21 March last year, specifically excluded special constables for this reason.
The 1995–96 Special Constabulary Working Group reviewed the compensation arrangements and recommended a number of changes to the regulations. The Group considered the question of compensation through insurance but was not convinced that private insurance would provide any better cover than could be provided under suitably amended regulations.
Proposals for new regulations were set out in a consultation paper which was sent to the police staff associations, the Association of Police Authorities and the special constabularies last December. Comments received from those bodies are currently under consideration and we aim to lay new regulations before Parliament later this year.
A copy of the consultation paper was placed in the Library in December 1997.