When applications are open, you are able to complete and submit your form online.  There is no longer a full Competency Based Question style application question set. This means that it will take around 10 minutes to complete the whole application form.

Make sure you read the application form carefully and provide full answers to all the questions.

Once we receive your completed form, we will check it against our standard recruitment criteria – e.g. convictions and nationality. If you are eligible to work for Lancashire Constabulary, your application will move on to the next stage. 

If your application is unsuccessful at this stage, we will contact you by email to let you know.

At this stage you will be invited to attend an interview.  

This will be face to face.

If your application passes the initial stages we will contact you to arrange an interview. The interview questions will be based around the same criteria as detailed on the candidate specification and will seek to find out how you would perform in the job in question.  We would also suggest visiting other section of our website for information on our values and force priorities. 

You’ll need to meet the following:

Aged 18 or above on the day you apply and must be aged 18 or over upon appointment (we don’t have an upper age limit and value the life experience that career changers bring).

• Not be a member of the British National Party (BNP) or other organisations such as Combat 18 or The National Front.
• If you have a criminal record, this doesn’t mean you won’t be considered. This depends on the nature of your conviction. Please declare any cautions or convictions on your application form. If you don’t you could fail vetting due to integrity concerns.
• Vetting clearance is unlikely to be granted if you have existing county court judgements (CCJ) outstanding against you.  If you have been registered bankrupt, clearance is unlikely until three years have passed since discharge of the debt.
• Tattoos which are offensive, garish, prominent or numerous are not acceptable. Please supply photos and measurements of any tattoos along with your application.
• You can re-attend our National Assessment Centre (NAC) if you failed the NAC within the last 3 months providing you were within 5% of the pass mark.  Otherwise you will need to wait 6 months between taking the NAC.
• You must be a British Citizen, or hold a passport from a full EU Member State. You can also apply if you are a Commonwealth citizen or foreign national who is resident in the UK with indefinite leave to remain.

Residency Requirement

You must have lived in the UK for three continuous years, immediately before applying, to meet the minimum residency requirement. This is because we need to vet all applicants in an equitable manner, which requires a checkable history in the UK.  Applicants who cannot be vetted cannot be appointed.  

If you live permanently in the UK, you are considered to be a UK resident.  If you have moved overseas and severed major ties to the UK (e.g. closed bank accounts and sold property) you are considered to have surrendered your residency in the UK. This applies to people who maintain bank accounts purely for the purpose of receiving regular payments, e.g. a UK pension.

If you have spent a significant period of time overseas (normally up to one year) without returning to the UK but intend to return in the future, then we may be able to consider you.  This might apply, for example, if you have taken a gap year or similar before or following university, travelled for a year or spent time overseas visiting family (not an exhaustive list). We will need you to provide full details and will consider each case on its own merits.  

If you have been posted overseas as part of your service with HMG or the armed forces you are considered to have been resident in the UK for the period that you were abroad.
If you have been overseas as the spouse, partner or dependent of a member of the armed forces posted overseas then it may be possible to obtain the necessary assurance for a checkable history to be established. We will consider each case on its merits.

Criminal Convictions

If you have convictions or cautions this doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t be able to appoint you. It depends on the role you’ve applied for and the nature of the offence. Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 all police staff applicants have to declare previous convictions and cautions which would ordinarily be considered ‘spent’.

However, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exemptions) Order 1975, provides that if you’re applying for a police staff role you do NOT have to declare any information in relation to a PROTECTED caution or a PROTECTED conviction.

A protected conviction is one where ALL the following applies:

• It is not for a ‘listed offence’* under Article 2A(5) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975
• No custodial sentence was imposed
• The individual has not been convicted of any other offence at any time
• 11 years or more have passed since the conviction, if the individual was aged 18 or over at the time of conviction, or 51/2 years or more have passed since the conviction if the individual was under 18 at the time ¬¬of the conviction.

A protected caution is one where ALL the following applies:

• It is not for a ‘listed offence’ * under Article 2A(5) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975;
• 6 years or more have passed since the caution, if the individual was aged 18 years or over at the time the caution was given, or 2 years or more have passed since the caution if the individual was under 18 at the time the caution was given.

* Listed offences include serious, violent and sexual offences and offences that are of specific relevance to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults, and will never be filtered or protected. There is a a list of offences which will never be filtered or protected.

As an applicant, you are responsible for understanding if you have a protected caution or conviction and to complete the vetting form correctly. If in doubt, contact our vetting unit for advice.

Lancashire Constabulary apply the criminal convictions guidance contained in the College of Policing Vetting Code of Practice and associated Authorised Professional Practice (APP) to all police staff applications and will reject applications in all cases where: 

• offences were committed as an adult or juvenile that resulted in a prison sentence (including custodial, suspended or deferred sentence and sentences served at a young offenders’ institution or community home);

• the applicant is, or has been, a registered sex offender or is subject to a registration requirement in respect of any other conviction.

For all other convictions or cautions we will reject applications where any of the following apply:

• offences where vulnerable people were targeted
• offences motivated by hate or discrimination
• offences of domestic abuse

We take particular care where an applicant has been convicted of (or cautioned for) offences of dishonesty, corrupt practice or violence, which will also likely result in rejection.

We consider each case on its own merits and, whilst you should presume convictions, cautions or other sanctions will lead to your application being rejected, there may be occasions where this will not be the case. 

There may also be circumstances where your suspected involvement in crime, or criminal associations make an offer of employment inappropriate. 

Financial Status

We run a credit reference check on all applicants. Police staff have access to privileged and highly sensitive information, which may make them vulnerable to corruption, so it’s important for us to understand applicants’ financial situation. Applicants to the police service should normally be free from serious debt or liability and be able to manage existing loans. We place our emphasis on managing debt sensibly.

If you have existing County Court Judgement’s outstanding or have been registered as bankrupt and have not discharged your bankruptcy we’ll be unable to consider your application. If you have been registered as bankrupt and have discharged their bankruptcy debts you won’t be considered until three years after your discharge of the debt. Debt Relief Orders (DRO) are treated in the same way as bankruptcy.

We will consider your application carefully if a credit reference check reveals you have a current individual voluntary arrangement (IVA). We don’t make clearance decisions until we’ve seen evidence that you’ve maintained regular IVA repayments over a number of months and taking into consideration also the size of the debt. The same principle applies where you have defaulted on accounts.

If you can show you have and are adhering to debt management arrangements you may be considered. We’ll need to see documentary evidence to demonstrate your commitment and adherence to any debt management arrangements and will consider each case on its own merits.

Open Source Checks – We will check content on publicly available social media sites.

Vetting Decisions – If your vetting is successful, our vetting unit will let the recruiting department know. If your clearance is declined our vetting unit will notify you personally and provide as much information as we can as to the reason. There may be occasions where we are unable to provide a detailed explanation.  There is an appeal process available.

You will be required to complete a medical questionnaire prior to attending our Occupational Health and Wellbeing department where by you will seen by one of our nurses who will undertake your hearing test and take a urine sample to check for use of illegal substances 

After all of the above has taken place you will be given a formal offer of employment and you discuss start dates for your exciting new career!