Akrivi-Marina Roumpou, Aberystwyth University, PGR student
The Voluntary Interview: Policy & Practice in England & Wales
The Voluntary Interview (VI) conducted by police in England & Wales (E&W) is a formal method of interviewing for somebody who is not under arrest but still a potential suspect for a criminal offence (College of Policing, 2022). The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Code C and E provide most of the guidance for its usage by outlining the suspect’s rights and entitlements; these remain similar to those in a post-arrest interview (i.e. provision of legal aid, appropriate adult (AA) safeguard for vulnerable suspects, audio-recording, provision of interpreter). The only discernible differences between a post-arrest interview and a VI are the ‘voluntariness’ of the latter – in which the interviewee gives/retracts consent to remain – and flexibility regarding the interview’s location – avoiding the need for detention means that interviews can be undertaken in any suitable location (such as the suspect’s home, the police station, a hospital, etc.). VIs have been used by the police in relation to vulnerable suspects – including children aged 10-17 – as a less stress-inducing alternative to detention in custody (HMICFRS, 2017; HMICFRS, 2022; Kemp & Hodgson, 2016). In fact, the National Appropriate Adult Network (NAAN) had reported in 2022/23 that 1 in 5 VIs involved child suspects (Bath, 2023). More recent NPCC guidance on the VI also encourages the use of such alternatives to arrest and custody, with the latter being recognised as particularly harmful to children (Kemp & Martin, 2024).
Governance Issues and Potential Risks for Child Suspects
Despite the safeguards in place for such interviews, recent academic discourse has brought awareness to the limited information that is available on this practice and the risks they potentially pose for vulnerable suspects, if not implemented appropriately by the responsible officers (Pierpoint, 2020). First, NAAN’s report revealed a problematic inconsistency with data recording across forces (Bath, 2023). Some forces were unable to provide comprehensive VI data, failed to record the need for an AA for all child interviewees, and either over or underestimated their VI volumes depending on their recording practices (ibid.). The data problem with VIs already hinders internal and external reviews of the practice. Furthermore, Kemp and Hodgson’s (2016) research revealed concerns over the AAs’ understanding of the VI’s formality, the presence/absence of legal aid, and the interviewing officers’ discretion in applying this practice – for example, one child was voluntarily interviewed in the back of the car (ibid.), which is not explicitly disallowed in PACE but is possibly oppressive and certainly inappropriate for child suspects. Additionally, there are concerns over the investigative officer’s discretion to conduct a risk assessment, which is typically the responsibility of the custody officer in post-arrest interviews (ibid.). In most cases, the investigative officer would not be directly responsible for identifying vulnerability and ensuring support provision, which may impact their ability to do so for a VI.
There is also a significant gap in literature on children’s experiences as voluntary interviewees. Children can be disadvantaged in police interviews due to difficulty focusing (Bevan, 2019), understanding unknown terminology (Kilkelly & Forde, 2020), and asserting their legal rights (Gudjonsson et al., 2006; Kemp & Watkins, 2022). There is pressing need to examine whether the VI ameliorates these issues, has a neutral effect, or leads to more negative outcomes.
A Mixed-Methods Research Plan for the Study of VIs with Child Suspects
This study situates the VI issue in the context of the Child First approach and philosophy to youth justice, whose principles are currently guiding the Youth Justice Service in E&W (YJB, 2021; 2024). The Child First tenets require the system and service providers to (a) treat children as children, consider their unique needs, and recognise their rights; (b) follow a strength-based approach and focus on building their pro-social identities; (c) collaborate with them in a meaningful way and include them in decision-making about their life; and (d) promote diversion and pre-emptive prevention that steers children away from criminalisation and stigma (Case & Browning, 2021; YJB, 2024). The VI must be reviewed under these principles in order to consider its current place in a Child First youth justice system and child-conscious policing. While the VI seems to have a positive reputation as more comfortable and less oppressive, embracing its use for child suspects must be underpinned by evidence. Namely, it is important to confirm whether this practice encourages diversion, out of court and out of the YJS; whether children are able understand the process and meaningfully engage in it; and whether they are given the opportunity to assert their rights and receive safeguarding that is appropriate to their needs.
This research project’s objective is to complement the academic literature on VIs and their influence on children’s journey and treatment in the Welsh YJS. It employs a mixed methods research design, which can be compartmentalised into a quantitative (quant) and a qualitative (qual) component. The quant component is driven by the overarching question “What does available police data reveal about the frequency, nature, and procedural context of voluntary interviews with suspects aged 10-17 (children) in Wales?”, thus aiming to collect data on VIs from all four Welsh police forces (Dyfed Powys, South Wales, North Wales, Gwent). It will attempt to obtain information on how many VIs have been conducted with children in the past five years, what types of offences are mostly associated with this practice, and whether the PACE safeguards of legal aid and AA provision are utilised. Police data can be difficult to retrieve, and VI data are already diminished by the aforementioned inconsistency in recording practices, so multiple avenues will be explored for their collection. Aside from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, the researcher has been assisted in gaining access by NAAN and the All-Wales Policing Academic Collaboration (AWPAC). This effort constitutes an attempt to fill a significant gap in concentrated statistical information on VIs, particularly when it concerns Welsh forces.
The qual project will attempt to answer the broad question of “Do Voluntary Interviews support the Child First approach in youth justice?”. Its methods entail semi-structured interviews with police officers, solicitors, and AAs who have experience partaking in VIs, as well as with children who have been voluntarily interviewed. Its aim is to provide further insight into the implementation of VIs, the adult practitioners’ views on the practice, the children’s experience and understanding, with a focus on the interview’s ‘voluntariness’, its inherent benefits, but also its potential risks. The qual component contains another element in the form of a pre-interview survey, which is used to collect some basic information on these perspective participants’ understanding of and opinion on VIs. This data will be analysed separately, then used to guide the interview discussion, and will also contribute to the thematic analysis of adjacent transcriptions. Ultimately, both quant and qual components will feed into a discussion on the VI’s proper application with child suspects, particularly regarding the protection of their legal rights and status as children first. The findings of this study will contribute towards a PhD thesis but also be shared with police forces and Youth Justice Services around Wales, who are also looking to review the VI practice.
REFERENCE LIST
Bath, C., (2023). Voluntary Interviews: Police use of voluntary interview and the application of the appropriate adult safeguard in England and Wales 2022/23 [Report]. The National Appropriate Adult Network. Available at: appropriateadult.org.uk/phocadownload/Research/2023_voluntary_interviews.pdf [Accessed 6/8/2025]
Bevan, M., (2019). Children and young people in police custody: an exploration of the experience of children and young people detained in police custody following arrest, from the perspective of the young suspect. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Case, S. & Browning, A. (2021). Child First Justice: the research evidence-base [Full report]. Loughborough University. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2134/14152040.v1 [Accessed 14/6/2023).
College of Policing, (2022). Investigative interviewing. [online] College of Policing. Available at: https://www.college.police.uk/app/investigation/investigative-interviewing/investigative-interviewing. [Accessed 1/6/2023]
Gudjonsson, G.H., Sigurdsson, J.F., Asgeirsdottir, B.B. and Sigfusdottir, I.D., (2006). Custodial interrogation, false confession and individual differences: A national study among Icelandic youth. Personality and Individual differences, 41(1), pp.49-59.
HMICFRS, (2017). Report on an unannounced inspection visit to police custody suites in North Wales Police. [Full Report] Available at: Dyfed-Powys police custody suites (justiceinspectorates.gov.uk) [Accessed 10/6/2023]
HMICFRS, (2022). Report on an unannounced inspection visit to police custody suites in North Wales Police. [Full Report] Available online: Report on an unannounced inspection visit to police custody suites in North Wales – His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (justiceinspectorates.gov.uk) [Accessed 10/6/2023]
Kemp, N. & Martin, B., (2024). NPCC Voluntary Interview Guidance. College of Policing. Available at: library.college.police.uk/docs/NPCC/Voluntary-interview-guidance-2024.pdf [Accessed 7/8/2025]
Kemp, V. and Hodgson, J., (2016). England and Wales: Empirical Findings in Vanderhallen et al. (eds), Interrogating Young Suspects: Procedural Safeguards from an Empirical Perspective. Human Rights Series, vol. II. Intersentia, Cambridge/Antwerp/Portland. pp.127–181.
Kemp, V. and Watkins, D., (2022). Exploring children’s understanding of the legal rights of suspects in England and Wales. Youth Justice, 22(3), pp.320-338.
Kilkelly, U. and Forde, L., (2020). Children’s rights and police questioning: A qualitative study of children’s experiences of being interviewed by the Garda Síochána. Policing Authority/University College Cork. Available at: https://defendingvulnerability.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/9e63e-policingauthorityreportfinal24.02.21.pdf [Accessed 7/8/2025]
Pierpoint, H., (2020). The risks of voluntary interviews. Criminal Law Review, (9), pp.818-837.
Youth Justice Board (YJB), (2021). Youth Justice Board for England and Wales: Strategic Plan 2021-2024. Available at: YJB Strategic Plan 2021 – 2024 (publishing.service.gov.uk) [Accessed 14/6/2023] Youth Justice Board (YJB), (2024). The Youth Justice Board Strategy for Delivering Positive Outcomes for Children by Reducing Offending and Creating Safer Communities, 2024–2027. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6603e2ecc34a860011be7607/2024_03_26_-_6.8802_YJB_Strategic_Plan_2024_FINAL_v07_WEB.pdf
Defending Vulnerability 