College of Policing responds to Uplift figures

Newly released Home Office figures show the Police Uplift Programme is on track to reach the Government’s target of 20,000 new police officers by March 2023 and have been welcomed by the College of Policing.

Chief Executive Officer Andy Marsh described news 13,576 officers (68 per cent of the target) were recruited for the Programme as ‘extremely positive’ and particularly praised the progress being made in attracting more females and ethnic minorities into the service.

The quarterly updated figures – which were released today by the Home Office, disclosed there were 142,526 officers in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales on 31 March 2022.

They also revealed a notable increase in the number of women and individuals from ethnic minorities. More than four in ten of the new Uplift recruits (42.4 per cent) were female, while 11.7 per cent (who stated their ethnicity) identified as ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities).

College of Policing CEO Andy Marsh said: “Despite the huge challenges of the past two years, the figures are extremely positive and will be welcomed across policing and by the wider public.

“It’s also encouraging progress is being made in attracting more females and individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds, although there’s still more work to be done on this issue.

“At the College of Policing, we are at the forefront of the very best training and professional development for officers and staff. Our training for police constable recruits has been adopted by the majority of Forces across England and Wales, and this has been specifically designed to complement their complex and important roles.

“It’s inspiring over 200,000 people have applied to become a police officer since October 2019. Many of these will become the future of the service and I’m heartened that the vocation of policing remains a strong draw.”

Other key findings:

• 13,576 recruited from funding for the Police Uplift Programme and contributed towards the target of 20,000 by March 2023 (11 per cent above the baseline, with 68% of the target recruited)
• A further 497 additional officers have been recruited through other funding streams (such as from local council tax precept)
• Of the 13,576 additional uplift officers, 345 were deployed to Regional and Organised Crime Units (ROCUs)