Amber Rudd plans licence to practise for police probing child sex abuse

Police investigating child sex abuse should have a licence to practise similar to the system for firearms officers, the Home Secretary has said.

Amber Rudd, making her first address to the College of Policing conference, said the plans would ensure consistent standards.

The conference theme this year is vulnerability, which Ms Rudd described as one of the “most pressing issues” facing police forces.

Her comments came as police and the Football Association probe sex abuse in youth football, which Ms Rudd said showed the issue was “not going away”.

The College of Policing will be given £1.9 million to fund a licence to practise pilot scheme.

Ms Rudd said: “It is important that only those who are absolutely qualified to perform critical roles dealing with the vulnerable are deployed to those situations.

“And that is why the Home Office and the College of Policing have been working closely together to develop a licence to practise.

“It will ensure that the public receive an assurance of competence and a delivery of consistent standards. It will also mean that police officers are not forced to take on roles that they are not prepared for or professionally trained to do.

“If your child was sick you wouldn’t expect them to see a doctor with no experience in children’s medicine, and it’s right to apply the same logic here.”

Ms Rudd said a damning report into the Metropolitan Police, which found the force’s handling of abuse investigations was either inadequate or required improvement in three-quarters of cases, was “not acceptable”.

She said: “Nor is it acceptable that there were officers placed in roles focused on tackling child sexual exploitation with no training on how to deal with that crime, meaning that signs of abuse were not identified and opportunities to protect children and target suspects were missed.”

An extra £26 million from the Police Transformation Fund, including the £1.9 million for the College of Policing scheme, will be allocated to 28 projects over the next three years, it was announced.

Chief Constable Alex Marshall, chief executive of the College of Policing, welcomed the funding and said officers could be placed on a register similar to those in other professions.

He said: “For the people we serve and the people we protect, the licence to practise is a strong proposal.

“To deliver the best service to the public we want our members who are overseeing cases involving vulnerability to benefit from an accredited qualification and undergo continuing professional development to keep their skills up to date and link learning directly to practice.”

The professional body for police said it would begin a consultation next month.

Mr Marshall also announced that new guidance on psychological stress for officers investigating abuse, as well as those working undercover, in firearms and counter-terrorism, would be published next year.

The guidelines for forces, adapted from a military approach, aim to support officers suffering mental health issues as a result of their work.

Dr Ian Hesketh, a senior adviser on organisational development and wellbeing at the college, said: “Some roles in policing have the potential to impact on an individual’s emotional and mental wellbeing, such as viewing disturbing images and reports, reading accounts of violent actions and dealing with day-to-day exposure to conflicts and crisis.”

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