Our ambition for everyone in policing to realise their potential with access to the best in professional development and wellbeing support.
Where we are now
Career-long learning and development is a hallmark of any profession. The sheer scale and scope of the demand on policing means that professional development is often seen as an abstraction from current demands, rather than an investment in future capability and a chance to build upon the basic foundation of police learning.
Policing needs a learning culture, so that professional standards are raised, the police can use the best evidence to achieve better ambitions for the public, and police officers have better opportunities to develop professionally.
Policing presents unique challenges and police officers, staff and volunteers can come under great stresses, and indeed dangers, in the exercise of their duties. This has an inevitable impact on wellbeing and performance. A stressed, anxious and traumatised workforce is not just bad for individuals, it also means the police service is not operating at its full strength, which limits its ability to deliver for the public.
Our ambition for policing
Our ambition is that everyone in policing will realise their potential with access to the best in professional development and wellbeing support.
The promotion of a learning culture in policing will raise professional standards and allow the police profession to continually self-improve, ensuring the best possible service for our communities. Having a well-developed, healthy and motivated workforce is a strategic capability for policing. Workforce wellbeing has benefits for individual officers and staff, as well as wider organisational benefits. Achieving this ambition will lead to the police service being a high-performance employer of choice with strong retention of officers and staff.
Our commitment over the next four years
Through the provision of world-class CPD opportunities and bite-sized learning products, we will promote a learning culture where reflective practice is encouraged.
To support those seeking lateral development, promotion and progression, we will develop an end-to-end framework, ensuring fair and inclusive opportunities at all levels within the police service. This will be complemented by a national strategy for talent development initiatives, including for under-represented groups.
Supporting career-long professional development also requires looking after the wellbeing of our officers, staff and volunteers, and we continue to be committed to building and delivering on the success of the National Wellbeing Service, Oscar Kilo.
The supporting career-long professional development and wellbeing sections in our Business plan (pages 29 to 36) contain specific steps that will support progress towards this ambition, as well as how we will measure our impact.