Neighbourhood Policing: Recruitment
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of the 3,123 additional neighbourhood officers represent (a) new recruits and (b) redeployed officers from other roles.
Answered by Sarah Jones
On 7 April 2026, the Home Office published an ad-hoc statistical release on the growth in neighbourhood policing personnel in England and Wales, as at 28 February 2026, compared with 31 March 2025. This information is based on provisional management information, and is available broken down by Police Force Area here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/neighbourhood-policing-programme-as-at-28-february-2026
This ad-hoc statistical release is based on limited management information, meaning it is not possible for the Home Office to determine what proportion of the additional 3,123 neighbourhood policing personnel (at the 28 February 2026 snapshot) are new recruits or redeployed officers from other roles.
Police forces have been able to approach the neighbourhood policing programme in a way that best achieves local needs and varied crime demands. Therefore, the precise mix of redeployment and recruitment has been for forces to decide.
Finalised statistics will be published in the Accredited Official ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistics in July 2026.
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