Local MP Antony Higginbotham has welcomed the announcement by the Home Secretary that policing degrees will no longer be a requirement for trainee officers looking to join the police.
Under the current requirements every police officer in England and Wales is required to be educated to degree level. However this change brought forward in 2016 and implemented two years ago has caused some concerns. Both Burnley and Padiham’s MP Antony Higginbotham and Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner have made representations calling for much more flexibility in the system.
Following calls from several quarters, this week Home Secretary Suella Braverman MP has confirmed that she has asked the College of Policing to look at considering options for a new, non-degree, entry route, to compliment the existing framework.
Antony Higginbotham MP who first called for the change earlier this year said:
Whilst having a university degree can play an important part in upskilling police officers, there is more to the job than just academic qualifications. That’s why, alongside our Police and Crime Commissioner I’ve been calling for the reintroduction of the non-degree route to policing.
I have huge respect for our police force and so giving them more flexibility in recruitment will allow them to focus on what the public want to see which is taking on criminals and fighting crime.
In the meantime, the previous, non-degree programme, the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP) that was being phased out, will remain open.
Speaking after the announcement, Andrew Snowden, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire said:
I was proud to be at the joint conference to hear directly from the Home Secretary the news I have been pushing for, the end to policing as a 'degree only' career and the return to people skills, common sense and life experience being just as valuable as a qualification.
Higher education and the involvement of institutions like UcLan, who we partner with on lots of different projects as well as training, will still have a huge role to play in the policing as a career, but what I've been saying, and what we've seen recognised by Government at this conference, is the need for multiple routes that ensures our recruitment is about the calibre of those who apply, not just whether they have, or want to study for, a degree.
By getting street savvy, dedicated officers onto the beat across the county taking the fight to criminals is what I and the people of Lancashire care most about. I will continue to work constructive with Government, other Commissioners and partners such as the College of Policing to ensure that we deliver a recruitment programme that delivers outstanding police officers in Lancashire and across the country.
