§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many medical retirements from the police there have been in the last 10 years as a result of periodontal deformities which exceed 3 mm. [132801]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Under the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 (as amended) a police officer may be retired on the ground that he or she is permanently disabled. For these purposes disablement means inability, occasioned by infirmity of mind or body, to perform the ordinary duties of a male or female member of the force. It would be a matter of fact whether a periodontal deformity could render a police officer unable to perform the ordinary duties of a police officer.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department's approved medical standards for police recruitment were last approved(a) in total and (b) in respect of periodontal conditions. [132800]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe Home Office Guidelines on Medical Standards of entry to Police Forces were first issued to forces on 13 February 1995. They were endorsed by the Association of Local Authority Medical Advisers and the Association of Chief Police Officers' Joint Working Group on Organisational Heath, Safety and Welfare. The guidelines were reviewed and re-issued to forces on 3 March 1998. No separate review has been undertaken of periodontal conditions, in relation to which the current guidelines recommend that forces should consider carefully any candidate with evidence of poor dental hygiene.