CONFERENCE
POLICE MINISTER ‘REGRETS’ FAILING TO PRIORITISE OFFICERS FOR VACCINE
T
he police minister admitted that he “regrets” not making a stronger argument for police officers to be
prioritised for the Covid vaccine. Kit Malthouse said: “The Home
Secretary and I lobbied hard. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation decided the risk of death and serious illness should be the priority. The Government went with their logic – it’s a matter of regret we didn’t make our case strongly enough.”
He made the admission during a panel discussion involving senior police figures and his Labour opposite number Sarah Jones. Martin Hewitt of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Sir Tom Winsor, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, also took part. Ms Jones said: “All the way through,
police needed more support from the Government. Around 100,000 officers could have been vaccinated. More could have been done.” She also hit out at the frequent changes to legislation during the pandemic. Sir Tom, a critic of policing in the
past, was fulsome in his praise of the Government and rated the policing response as a “nine out of ten”. He went on to say: “Overall, the national leadership and political
support was really good. Of course, there were mistakes - the drones in Derbyshire were seized upon by papers, but police officers deserve high marks and the Government credit.” Mr Hewitt praised the response
of police officers but admitted the frequent changes in legislation were challenging for the service and Government. He said: “We were often operating
where we had different regulations in different countries. At the beginning it was hard to anticipate what was happening – we worked very closely with officials in the Home Office. What we do have to accept is how complex it was for Government. Every force faced
Kit Malthouse
“We were often operating where we had diferent regulations in diferent countries. At the beginning it was hard to anticipate what was happening – we worked very closely with ofcials in the Home Ofce. What we do have to accept is how complex it was for Government. Every force faced diferent situations - the rules were the same, but every day ofcers quite rightly used their discretion on the ground.”
Sarah Jones
different situations - the rules were the same, but every day officers quite rightly used their discretion on the ground.”
17 I POLICE I AUGUST 2021
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