These regulations amend the 2023 Road Traffic Act 1988 (Police Driving: Prescribed Training) Regulations.
Key changes include clarifying that the College of Policing licenses training providers in England and Wales, updating references to training standards, and making various clarificatory amendments to course details in the schedule, including omissions of some courses.
The changes aim to improve clarity, consistency, and efficiency in police driver training.
Arguments For
Improved clarity and consistency: The amendments clarify the providers of prescribed police driving training in England, Wales, and Scotland, reducing ambiguity and ensuring consistent standards.
Updated training standards: The regulations reflect changes in training standards by updating references to the College of Policing's updated standards for instructors and trainers. This aligns police driver training with current best practices.
Streamlined training courses: By omitting certain outdated training courses and making clarificatory changes, these regulations improve the efficiency and relevance of the prescribed training schedule.
Legal basis: The regulations are made under the authority granted by sections 2A(1A)(b), 3ZA(2A)(b), 192(1), and 195(7) of the Road Traffic Act 1988, ensuring a strong legal foundation for the changes.
Arguments Against
Potential disruption to existing training programs: Changes to training providers and course content may cause short-term disruption to already established training programs for police drivers.
Unintended consequences: Minor amendments may have unintended consequences that are not apparent until the regulations are implemented. Ongoing monitoring is important to identify and address them.
Resource implications: Updating training materials and retraining instructors involve resource costs for police forces and training providers.
Alternative approaches: Other methods could have achieved similar outcomes, such as issuing guidance or amending the 2023 regulations through less formal means.
- Citation, commencement and extent (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Road Traffic Act 1988 (Police Driving: Prescribed Training) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 and come into force on 24th July 2025. (2) These Regulations extend to Great Britain.
Section 1 details the regulations' official title, effective date (July 24, 2025), and geographical scope (Great Britain).
- Amendment of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (Police Driving: Prescribed Training) Regulations 2023 The Road Traffic Act 1988 (Police Driving: Prescribed Training) Regulations 2023 are amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 7.
Section 2 states that the document amends the 2023 Road Traffic Act 1988 (Police Driving: Prescribed Training) Regulations, with specifics provided in subsequent sections (3-7).
- Amendment of regulation 3 (prescribed training provided in England and Wales) In regulation 3— (a) in the heading, for “in England and Wales” substitute “by a provider licensed by the College of Policing”; (b) in paragraph (b), for the words from “Police Sector Standards” to the end substitute “College of Policing Standard for Instructors or the College of Policing Standard for Trainers”.
Section 3 amends regulation 3 of the 2023 regulations.
It replaces the phrase "in England and Wales" with "by a provider licensed by the College of Policing" in the heading and updates references to training standards within the regulation's text.
- Amendment of regulation 4 (required refresher training frequency for training provided in England and Wales) In the heading to regulation 4, for “in England and Wales” substitute “by a provider licensed by the College of Policing”.
Section 4 amends the heading of regulation 4 of the 2023 regulations, substituting the phrase "in England and Wales" with "by a provider licensed by the College of Policing".
- Amendment of regulation 5 (prescribed training provided in Scotland) In the heading to regulation 5, for the word “in” substitute “by Police”.
Section 5 modifies regulation 5's heading, replacing "in" with "by Police" to clarify the provider of training in Scotland.
- Amendment of regulation 6 (required refresher training frequency for training provided in Scotland) In the heading to regulation 6, for the word “in” substitute “by Police”.
Similar to section 5, section 6 amends regulation 6's heading, replacing "in" with "by Police" for Scottish training providers.
- Amendment of the Schedule In the Schedule— (a) In Table 1— (i) in the first column, for “Standard response driving” substitute “Response driving”; (ii) in the heading of the third column, for “students ratio” substitute “learners”; (iii) in the fourth column, for “Two years”, in each place those words occur, substitute “Three years”; (iv) in the entry “Tactical phase pursuit (TPaC)”, in the second column, for “Five days” substitute “One week”; (v) in the entry “VIP protection motorcycle escorts”, in the second column, for “Five days” substitute “One week”; (vi) in the entry “Escorting vehicles (abnormal loads etc)”— (aa) in the third column, for “One to three” substitute “Three to six”; (bb) in the fourth column, for “Unlimited validity” substitute “Five years”; (vii) in the entry “Category B vans & passenger vehicles”— (aa) in the second column, for “Four hours” substitute “One day”; (bb) in the third column, for “One to two” substitute “One to three”; (viii) in the entry “VIP protection driving”, in the third column, for “One to three” substitute “Three to six”; (ix) omit the entry “Off-road motorcycling”; (x) omit the entry “Off-road driving”; (xi) omit the entry “Pre-surveillance motorcycle riding”. (b) In Table 2— (i) in the first column, for “Standard response driving” substitute “Response driving”; (ii) in the second column, for “two years”, in each place those words occur, substitute “three years”; (iii) in the heading of the fourth column, for “students ratio” substitute “learners”; (iv) after the entry “VIP protection motorcycle escorts” insert— Escorting vehicles (abnormal loads etc) Every five years One day Three to six; (v) in the entry “VIP protection driving”, in the fourth column, for “One to three” substitute “Three to six”; (vi) omit the entry “Pre-surveillance motorcycle riding”.
Section 7 details numerous amendments to Tables 1 and 2 within the Schedule of the 2023 regulations.
These changes include renaming course elements, clarifying terminology (e.g., changing "students ratio" to "learners"), updating durations and frequencies of training, and removing several course entries (off-road motorcycling, off-road driving, and pre-surveillance motorcycle riding).
Explanatory Note (This note is not part of the Regulations) These Regulations amend the Road Traffic Act 1988 (Police Driving: Prescribed Training) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/185) (‘the 2023 Regulations’). Regulations 3 and 4 amend the headings of Regulations 3 and 4 of the 2023 Regulations to clarify that prescribed training may be provided in England, Wales and Scotland by a provider licensed by the College of Policing provided the requirements of Regulation 3 of the 2023 Regulations are met. Regulation 3 also amends the sector training standards reference in Regulation 3 of the 2023 Regulations as they have been renamed. Regulations 5 and 6 amend the headings of Regulations 5 and 6 of the 2023 Regulations to clarify that prescribed training may be provided in England, Wales and Scotland by Police Scotland provided the requirements of Regulation 5 of the 2023 Regulations are met. Regulation 7 amends Table 1 and 2 of the Schedule to the 2023 Regulations to make various clarificatory changes to the headings of the Tables, including minor updates to various aspects of the courses and omits some courses. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private or voluntary sector or community bodies is foreseen.
The explanatory note summarizes the changes made by the regulations, clarifying their purpose and providing context for the amendments.
It also notes that a full impact assessment was deemed unnecessary due to the expected minimal influence on the private or voluntary sectors.