29 September 2015 – 306.2015-16 – Freedom of information request – Special Constables

Request

1. How many Special Constables were registered with your Force as at 01.06.15?
2. What was the attrition rate for your Special Constabulary for the last reported 12 months (please define if any left to join the regulars)?
3. What was the total number of hours worked by your Special Constables for the last reported 12 month period?
4. How many of your Special Constabulary currently have Independent Patrol Status (as defined by the Home Office)?
5. Please list each different role description of your Special Constabulary officers and the Department that they work in?
6. Please describe any plans to increase the number of Special Constables and/or roles to be undertaken in the future?

Response

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information

To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire Police. This is a joint response as information is held by both.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you.

1. As of 1 June 2015 150 Special Constables were in post.
2. From April 2014 to April 2015 there were 84 starters and 49 leavers. 6 of the leavers left to join North Yorkshire Police as Student Officers.
3. From 2014 to May 2015 54891 hours were worked by Special Constables.
4. As of 21 July 2015 North Yorkshire Police had 71 Independent Patrol Status Specials.
5. North Yorkshire Police do not have role descriptions for Special Constables; they are broken down into the following ranks:
   

   Rank	Number
   Special Constable	122
   Temporary Specials Sergeant	6
   Acting Specials Sergeant	1
   Specials Sergeant	13
   Acting Specials Inspector	1
   Specials Inspector	1
   Specials Chief Inspector	1
   Specials Chief Officer	1

6. In January 2015 North Yorkshire Police ran a successful recruitment campaign, on 29 November 2015 North Yorkshire Police will have an intake of 28 new special constables and a further intake of 14 new special constables is scheduled for 23 January 2016. The North Yorkshire Police Special Constabulary Liaison Officer is currently working to establish a small team of Special Constables who will be seconded for two years to the Road Policing Group. There are no plans to run another recruitment campaign until early 2016.

The Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire Police, Julia Mulligan and North Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Dave Jones are both national leads for the Special Constabulary for The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and The National Police Chief’s council respectively. Together they will be working on the national strategy for ‘Citizens in Policing’.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.