Police: Recruitment
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on recruitment of (a) warranted police officers, (b) Police Community Support Officers and (c) Special Constables.
Answered by Dame Diana Johnson
This Government is committed to ensuring police forces are supported to tackle crime effectively.
The latest Home Office statistics for the overall Police Workforce show a 1.2% increase when compared to the previous year. The total paid police workforce in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales was 236,588 full-time equivalents (FTE) as at 31 March 2024; an increase of 2,752 FTE, compared to 233,836 FTE as at 31 March 2023. This includes 147,746 FTE police officers (up 0.2% on 147,434 in March 2023); and 81,303 FTE police staff and designated officers (up 3.4% on 78,596 in March 2023).
As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, the Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. This includes delivering an additional 13,000 police officers, PCSOs and special constables in neighbourhood policing roles. More detail on the Guarantee will be set out in the coming weeks.
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