Peer Learning Visits

Peer learning visits involve visits by representatives of police forces to areas of interest and promising practice either within police forces or other public, private or third sector organisations with lessons to offer police and public services generally.

The visits are about both practice and mobilising change and have been found in other sectors to be productive in embedding change and innovation. The visit is based on key strategic issues of national interest. For example, a peer learning event can focus on promising or innovative approaches to tackling child sexual exploitation or to managing staff well-being.

Peer learning visits are carefully organised to ensure that visitors (police and academics together) have undertaken preparation and have clear questions for the visit, and that a short time after the visit, host organisations receive a report of visitors' key learning points as valuable feedback on their promising practice.

The number of visitors will vary by visit, according to the theme and capacity of the host’s venue. Previous experience suggests that, in order to maximise the impact of learning and action from visits back in the home forces, visitor groups should include at least two colleagues from each visiting force. All visitors will be invited to join a phone-based conference call in preparation to the visit but if work pressures make this difficult, background material will be circulated by email.

Visitors are supported for six weeks after the visit in reflecting how their learning can be applied within their own force and short reports on each visit will be made available on this website soon after they have taken place.