Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help increase levels of (a) recruitment and (b) retention of neighbourhood police officers in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, the Government has committed to delivering 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel by the end of this Parliament.

Lincolnshire Police was allocated £1,663,470 in 2025/26, and £3,042,016 has been set aside in 2026/27 to support the force’s contribution to this commitment. Forces are able to determine their preferred workforce mix based on local crime demands and deployment of officers within neighbourhood policing is an operational policing decision.

Retention of officers is critical to effective neighbourhood policing. Forces should be using evidence-based approaches to support the retention and progression of existing officers, alongside local recruitment efforts. To support this, the College of Policing provides a platform offering learning, insights and guidance on attraction, recruitment and retention, which forces can use to inform and strengthen local delivery.