{"id":388183,"date":"2026-01-24T15:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T15:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/388183\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T15:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T15:22:08","slug":"police-federation-criticises-plans-for-mandatory-licence-to-practise-for-officers-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/388183\/","title":{"rendered":"Police Federation criticises plans for mandatory \u2018licence to practise\u2019 for officers | Police"},"content":{"rendered":"

The government must stop burdening police officers with unsafe workloads and improve police pay and training if they want \u201cprofessional\u201d policing, the Police Federation has said, in response to sweeping Home Office changes to improve standards<\/a> in the police.<\/p>\n

Under the new plans, to be unveiled in a white paper on Monday, police officers in England and Wales will be required to hold and renew a \u201clicence to practise\u201d throughout their career in the future.<\/p>\n

This will ensure officers \u201cstay at the top of their game\u201d by keeping up to date with the latest \u201cproblem solving and technological skills they need to catch more criminals\u201d, the Home Office<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

The licence will create a single standardised framework for officer training, supervision and development, which will be rolled out across all 43 police forces in England and Wales.<\/p>\n

It would set clear standards in areas including violence against women and girls, neighbourhood policing and leadership expectations for staff, the Home Office said.<\/p>\n

Officers who repeatedly fail to demonstrate they \u201chave the skills needed to fight crime\u201d will be sacked.<\/p>\n

The crime and policing minister Sarah Jones said: \u201cEvery police officer needs to remain match-fit to protect their communities. As crime evolves, we expect police to evolve more quickly.<\/p>\n

Sarah Jones says the licence reforms will \u2018equip every officer with the skills and capabilities\u2019 to do the job. Photograph: Martin Godwin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cThe licence to practise will equip every officer with the skills and capabilities to do the job \u2013 whether new to the force or a policing veteran.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Police Federation<\/a> of England and Wales criticised the plans, saying: \u201cEveryone wants professional policing, but that requires pay, training, time and support.<\/p>\n

\u201cOfficers are routinely pulled off mandatory training to plug gaps, work rest days to stay afloat, and carry workloads no one would call safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will await the detail of the white paper but these issues need to be fixed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Bedfordshire police and crime commissioner Festus Akinbusoye said the plan was unnecessary.<\/p>\n

Akinbusoye, a former Conservative party candidate, told the Daily Mail: \u201cI am genuinely astonished that, of all the crises facing British policing such as collapsing recruitment, appalling retention, failure to get the basics right, deep-rooted cultural problems, and a serious leadership deficit \u2013 the Home Office has decided that the answer lies in forcing police officers to hold a licence to practise.\u201d<\/p>\n

The changes will form part of what the government has said will be the largest shake-up of the police service since it was founded 200 years ago. Other changes announced include targets for crime fighting, responding to emergency calls and satisfying the victims of crimes, with those performing poorly to be named and shamed.<\/p>\n

One police chief said national targets, with forces potentially ranked in league tables, could lead to perverse incentives. \u201cPeople worry about their position in league tables as opposed to the quality of service,\u201d they said. \u201cWhat gets measured gets done, and what does not get measured does not get done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another chief said: \u201cYou can hit the target and miss the point.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government has also announced a graduate recruitment drive, with \u00a37m promised to attract students into graduate neighbourhood police officer roles.<\/p>\n

The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, will unveil the reforms in the white paper on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The government must stop burdening police officers with unsafe workloads and improve police pay and training if they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-388183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}