Nine out of ten recruits intend to stay until retirement, survey finds

14 February 2023

Derbyshire Police Federation has welcomed the findings of a new survey which showed nearly nine out of ten recruits who joined up under the Police Uplift Programme (PUP) intend to stay in the service until they retire.

The PUP New Recruits Onboarding Survey (2022) painted a positive overall picture with high satisfaction rates and strong intentions to remain within policing.

Branch chair Tony Wetton said he was pleased the vast majority of young officers had such a positive outlook and added he was looking forward to working with them and supporting them throughout their careers.

He said: “Policing can be tough, stressful and sometimes thankless but it can also be the most rewarding and fulfilling job in the world.

“I am so pleased that such a high number of new recruits have stated their intention to stick with the job and the Police Federation will be there for them whenever they need us.  I speak to every new intake and in the anonymous survey I conduct with them the figures are even more emphatic.  I have asked hundreds of new officers what their initial intentions are in terms of their career, and all bar one so far have said that they plan to spend the rest of their career as a police officer.

“The Force has now got to play its part by ensuring those new recruits are made to feel valued and well-respected and not taken for granted.  And that needs to continue to be the case as their careers progress.

“We want a modern, diverse and proactive service and hopefully these new recruits and the positivity they bring will help us deliver just that.”

The survey found more than eight in ten (82 per cent) new officers were satisfied with the role and 81 per cent were satisfied with the support they received from their line managers.

Almost seven in ten (69 per cent) said the role had met or exceeded their expectations while 86 per cent said they wanted to serve with the police until retirement.

The findings from the 2022 survey were less positive when compared to the 2021 survey which showed 90 per cent were satisfied with the role, 81 per cent were satisfied with the support received, 79 per cent felt the role met or exceeded expectations and 90 per cent intended to stay.

On officer wellbeing, around four in ten (40 per cent) new recruits report ignoring their personal life needs due to work strain and agreed that tension and stress from work was adversely affecting the rest of their life. This compares with a figure of 33 per cent from the 2021 survey.

The 2022 report found the experiences of new officers from minority ethnic backgrounds were not as positive as those of their white counterparts across a number of questions.

It also noted the number of positive responses to questions generally decreased as length of service and officer age increased.

The Police Uplift Programme was launched in 2020 with the aim of taking on 20,000 additional officers by March 2023 although critics point out officer numbers will still be lower than 13 years ago when cuts began.

Policing and crime minister Chris Philp said: “Policing is a career like no other and I am proud that so many thousands of people in England and Wales want to put themselves forward to protect their communities from danger - in a challenging, essential and rewarding job.

“In a matter of months, when this once-in-a-generation recruitment drive is complete and we have a record number of officers across England and Wales, our police forces will be more representative than ever of the communities they serve.

“The overwhelming majority of new recruits recently surveyed report positive job satisfaction and want to remain officers for the rest of their working lives, and compared to other public sectors, voluntary resignations in policing remain low at 2.5 per cent.”