Member

The noble Lords are right to raise the issue. The entitlement to time off for public duties has existed for almost half a century, and it may well be time to consider whether updates are needed to reflect changes in our public services. Indeed, alongside special constables, there are other roles—such as on-call firefighters, St John Ambulance volunteers, RNLI voluntary lifeguards and police support volunteers—who have structured training and a formal public service responsibility and are not currently recognised under law. Noble Lords might agree that it would be slightly, if unintendedly, invidious to create a false division between the role of special constables and those other roles that exist in society. I think many people out in the streets would say, “Actually, they all do really good jobs”. We are all really grateful for the opportunity that they take to serve the public and protect and safeguard us in different ways.