New recruits: Force passes it Year 1 allocation target

29 October 2020

The Force has exceeded its first year allocation of new recruits under the Government’s uplift programme.

Boris Johnson, shortly after becoming Prime Minister last year,  announced the Government would recruit 20,000 extra police officers during the three-year uplift initiative.

Hertfordshire was given an allocation of 91 new recruits in Year 1 of the programme but an update issued by the Government today shows the Force had taken on 110 people by the end of September.

“This is good news for the Force but also for the communities it serves,” says Al Wollaston, secretary of Hertfordshire Police Federation.

“During the budget cuts of the austerity years, we saw officer numbers plummet but no corresponding decline in demand for policing services which put our officers under extreme pressure as they tried to do more with less but also meant that it was difficult for us to meet the needs of the public. Something had to give.

“This three-year uplift in officer numbers will definitely help but we will still probably only get back to the number of officers we had when the budget cuts began so I think we need to see a more long-term and sustained recruitment programme.”

National Federation chair John Apter, responding to the Government’s update on the uplift, said more needs to be done to attract new police recruits with previous life experience and those from military or public sector backgrounds.

He explained: “To have a healthy mix of new recruits with life experience is good for policing and essential. We will continue to raise this point with the Home Office. As the programme continues, it is also vital for the service to be more representative and reflect the communities we serve. More needs to be done to recruit officers from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

“While good progress has been made, we need to continue to do all we can to ensure policing is an attractive profession for all members of the communities we serve.”