Details of first wave of police recruitment unveiled

The Home Office has published police recruitment targets for every force in England and Wales for 2020-21.

Under the campaign, “Be a Force For All” the government confirmed targets for every police force in its drive to increase their ranks by 20,000 over the next three years.

The government is providing £750 million to fund the recruitment of up to 6,000 additional officers by the end of March 2021.

Home secretary Priti Patel said: “The public are clear they want to see more police officers on their streets, whether they live in the city or the countryside.”

The government stressed that the 20,000 uplift is in addition to those hired to fill existing vacancies.

The National Policing Board, set up to drive progress in recruitment and other major policing issues, yesterday heard that the Joining the Police website had been visited more than 215,000 times.

The Police Federation and the Police Superintendents’ Association attended the board for the first time. John Apter, national chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales said: “Investment in policing is long overdue and for the first time we now have the actual number of officers each local force will increase by in the next year.

“These figures have been based on the current funding formula models and while this method is not perfect, I accept it is the only solution available to deliver the numbers quickly in year one.

“We now need to ensure that the formula is revisited for future years to ensure a fairer allocation of officers across all forces, but this is certainly a positive start and will provide a much-needed boost to my members and the communities they serve.”

The Home Office has also announced £10 million of funding to increase the number of officers carrying Tasers to keep themselves and the public safe and confirmed plans for a police covenant will focus on the physical protection of officers, their health and wellbeing and support for their families.