The Police (Conduct and Vetting etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2026

11 Amendment of regulation 2 (interpretation)

(1) In regulation 2(1)— (a) after the definition of “the Conduct Regulations” insert— “criminal history check” means a check to ascertain, so far as reasonably practicable, whether a person has, or may have, committed a criminal offence, and includes a check of— central records, within the meaning of section 112(3) of the Police Act 1997, and the Police National Database; ; (b) after the definition of “line manager” insert— “listed offence” means an offence listed in the Schedule; ; (c) after the definition of “the Performance Regulations” insert— “police candidate” means a person seeking appointment to a police force, but does not include a police officer who is seeking to transfer from one police force to another; ; (d) for the definition of “police force concerned” substitute— “police force concerned”, in relation to a police officer, means— the police force of which the officer is a member, or where the officer is a special constable, the police force maintained for the police area for which the officer is appointed; ; (e) after the definition of “police friend” insert— “Police National Database” means the national information management system known by that name and used to share information between police forces and other persons operating in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland charged with the duty of preventing, detecting, investigating or prosecuting offences; ; (f) after the definition of “relevant lawyer” insert— “renew” is to be construed in accordance with regulation 5(2)(a); and cognate expressions are to be construed accordingly; “renewal date”, in relation to a grant of vetting clearance, is the date on or before which the vetting authority which granted the vetting clearance must initiate the renewal process by sending to its holder an application for further vetting clearance; ; (g) after the definition of staff association insert— “vetting application assessment” means a comprehensive and in-depth assessment by a vetting authority of a person’s (“P’s”) suitability to hold vetting clearance, following an application by P for vetting clearance, and includes— a criminal history check in respect of P, a check of the police barred list and the police advisory list in respect of P, and such additional checks as will, so far as reasonably practicable— provide a full picture of P’s financial history and conduct, as well as information about any close associations of P, and enable the vetting authority to consider any other matter which may reasonably affect P’s suitability to hold vetting clearance; ; (h) omit the definition of “vetting authority”; (i) for the definition of “vetting clearance” substitute— “vetting clearance” means— in relation to a police candidate or a police officer seeking to transfer from one police force to another, the level of police vetting clearance that the candidate or officer requires to perform the duties of the role for which they are seeking appointment; in all other cases, the level of police vetting clearance that the police officer requires to perform the duties of their role; . (2) After paragraph (1) insert— (2) In these Regulations— (a) in Parts 3 and 4, references to “the vetting authority” are references to the vetting authority of the police force concerned; (b) the “vetting authority” of a police force is— (i) in relation to a police candidate or a police officer, other than a chief officer of police or acting chief officer, the chief officer of police of that police force; (ii) in relation to a chief officer of police or acting chief officer, the local policing body for that police force’s area. .