Justice 1 Committee, 13 Dec 2006

Meeting date: Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Official Report 192KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

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Police (Minimum Age for Appointment) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (SSI 2006/552)

Members will have details of the regulations, and I welcome Peter Jamieson and Gillian McDonald from the Scottish Executive Justice Department, who are here to answer any questions that members may have.

I do not think that there is anything particularly controversial about the regulations, other than that they were laid later than the required 21 days before they come into force. Peter, is there anything that you want to say about the regulations?

The regulations amend the Police (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (SSI 2004/257) and the Police Cadets (Scotland) Regulations 1968 (SI 1968/208). The amendments cover two interlinked parts of the regulations, and changes are being made in light of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/1031).

Broadly speaking, the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 make it unlawful to discriminate on grounds of age in employment. Our legal advice was that we had to introduce the new regulations as soon as possible, and we therefore broke the 21-day rule.

The effect of the regulations is to reduce the minimum age of application for regular police officers to 18 years from 18 and a half and, as a consequence, the attainment age of cadets.

Where do the regulations emanate from?

The amendments to the regulations emanate from employment legislation, which itself emanates from European Union law.

So these are EU regulations that are being implemented.

We have had to amend the police regulations as a result of EU legislation.

Right, I understand that.

In the Executive note, it says that one reason for ensuring that no one under the age of 18 became a police cadet was the nature of the job, which can often be stressful. There has always been a six-month gap after the 18th birthday before someone is accepted into the police, and it is a time in which there is room for developing more maturity for dealing with different things that one can do as an 18-year-old. Do you have any concerns or reservations about that the gap being removed and about taking new recruits on their 18th birthday?

People can go to the cadets at ages younger than 18, but the maximum age of retention as a cadet has been changed because the age of application for regular police officers has been reduced. Our legal advice was that the grounds for making that age 18 are more defensible than the grounds for making it 18 and a half. There are lots of reasons for that. People can buy alcohol when they are 18, and there are public confidence issues. That is the advice that we received.

Was 18 chosen because that is the age of transition from child to adult? People can be in employment at a younger age.

The age of 18 was not seen as the age of transition from child to adult as such. The decision was more to do with issues of public confidence in people's ability to police.

So a subjective judgment was made, rather than objective reference being made to some external legislation.

Arguably, yes.

Is the Executive worried that the decision might be challenged by those who think that the age should be lower?

No. We were advised that the grounds for making the age 18 are more defensible than the grounds for any other age. In certain instances, it is defensible to discriminate on the grounds of age. That was the advice from our legal services.

I understand the reasons for the regulations, but will the extra six months make any difference? I guess it must at some point, when we decided on this.

To change it from 18 and a half to 18?

There must have been a reason for deciding that the age should be 18 and a half. Will the change make any difference?

I imagine that, originally, there would have been a reason for making the age 18 and a half. It was perhaps more to do with the application process. We have been advised that it is defensible to make the age 18 but that it would not be defensible to keep it at 18 and a half.

I appreciate that. I just wonder whether the six months will make any difference.

I do not know.

It is purely a legal question.

Yes.

The regulations are useful. In future, when we all say that the policemen are looking younger, it will be true.

Hopefully, it will not be the entire recruitment strategy to recruit people at 18. I am sure that there will be sensible application of the regulations.

There are no further serious questions. There might be a few not-so-serious ones. Thank you for your evidence. I think that the committee is content to note the instrument.

Members indicated agreement.