Home Office meeting on response driving

20 January 2020

West Midlands Police Federation’s deputy secretary is attending a Home Office meeting today to discuss the details of the new legislation needed to give police drivers better legal protection.

Tim Rogers, who is also the Police Federation of England and Wales’ response driving lead, has spearheaded a campaign to ensure that police drivers’ training and skills are taken into account in driving laws. Under current legislation, officers are judged against the standards of the careful and competent driver.

“All too often we have represented officers who have found themselves facing conduct and criminal proceedings simply for doing the job they are trained to do,” says Tim, “Your average careful and competent driver will not be speeding, going through red lights or crossing onto the wrong side of the carriageway but these are all things we train and ask police officers to do so that they can respond to calls for help from the public.

“The Federation has long called for a change in the law to recognise police drivers’ skills and training and has gained cross party support in the House of Commons culminating in the Police Powers and Protections Bill being included in the Queen’s Speech in December. This sets out the legislative reform required to better protect police officers when performing their duties.

“Today I will be meeting Home Office officials to present a way of managing the secondary legislation that will define who will set the new standard by which police driving will be assessed.”

Ahead of the Home Office meeting, Tim will meet with the police powers lead at the Department for Transport (Dft) to get an update on the national review of roads policing and also submit evidence on behalf of the Federation.

The two-year review, which is being jointly funded by the DfT and Highways England, has eight strands and will look at how roads policing currently operates, how effective it is and where improvements could be made.

“I am hoping to hear updates from the working groups looking at different aspects of the review,” says Tim, “But I am also mindful that at the start of March we are expecting Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services to publish its report on roads policing and early indications are that it will be critical of police chiefs’ management of its resources in this area.”

• The Home Office, DfT and National Police Chiefs’ Council lead will give updates at next week’s Police Federation roads policing conference which is being held in Kenilworth on Tuesday and Wednesday (28 and 29 January).