Drop in officer numbers despite Police Uplift Programme recruitment

27 October 2022

Hertfordshire Police has fewer serving officers than it did a year ago despite a Police Uplift Programme-funded recruitment drive, new figures have revealed.

Statistics from the Home Office show the Force had 2,261 officers as of the end September, 12 down on the 2,273 it had in October 2021.

Hertfordshire Police Federation chair Luke Mitchell said he had been warning of a growing recruitment and retention crisis for many months.

He said: “The Police Uplift Programme is pointless if we end up with less officers than when we started.”

“The amount of time and effort we’re putting into recruiting officers is huge and to have fewer officers than we did this time last year is a real worry and further evidence that we can’t retain officers.

“Not only are people exiting the job early in their career, we are seeing experienced officers calling it a day mid-service and moving on to other jobs outside the police.

“That all comes down to pay and conditions. They have looked at pay but the working conditions side of things is all about how people are treated and at the minute our members are being moved all over the place to fill the gaps caused by officer shortages.

“Our members are still being pulled from pillar to post and I don't think you would get treated like this in any other setting.

“This is the only job in the world where you can be moved left, right and centre and that goodwill has been taken advantage of over the last few years.

“We are really struggling with the demands on policing and it is our members who are expected to pick up the lion’s share of that burden.

“It feels like we are firefighting, moving from one crisis to the next. And at the moment the crisis is centered round recruitment and retention.”

“This is another example of smoke and mirrors. While we may meet uplift targets the real story is we’re left with less officers and a more inexperienced workforce.

“We can’t keep recruiting the amount of staff we are, only to lose them, it’s costly and doesn’t support our desire to give the public the very best service possible.”

The Home Office said a total of 15,343 officers had now been recruited across England and Wales from funding for the Police Uplift Programme which aims to take on 20,000 new officers by March 2023.

It said: “The Police Uplift Programme’s primary focus is to support the recruitment of officers across the 43 forces. Recruitment across each force is the responsibility of an operationally independent chief constable and held to account by a locally elected Police and Crime Commissioner.

“The Government has pledged to invest more £3.5bn in policing between 2020 and 2023 in order to recruit 20,000 additional officers.

“Additional officers will support forces in tackling crime and making communities safer.

“The Police Uplift Programme is one of a range of initiatives the Government has implemented to support policing.”