Police training is to be assessed by the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) from this month.

ALI inspectors will work alongside inspectors from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) for up to 100 days during 2004, assessing the quality of learning and training being offered to police officers and staff.

ALI chief inspector David Sherlock, Chief Inspector of Adult Learning “Society expects so much of its police service and it is the quality of the training that the police receive which makes it possible for them to live up to those expectations.

"It is our shared determination that ALI inspectors will offer regulation and public accountability and ultimately work with HMIC to make police training even better.”

Robin Field-Smith of the HMIC said that the formal agreement to joint inspections built on three years of the two bodies working together.

“Training is the key enabler of performance. The public rightly expect the highest levels of performance from the police," he said.

"Formalising the partnership for the future can only be good both for the police and the public they serve.”