Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of recent increases in police recruitment on the number of police officers engaged in on-the-ground work.
The Government is delivering on the people’s priorities by recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers and putting violent criminals behind bars for longer.
I am delighted that almost 6,000 police officers have already been recruited as part of the uplift, working to support the national response to coronavirus as well as tackling crime and keeping communities safe.
We are committed to recruiting at pace, but also ensuring officers are fully trained and supported to meet modern crime demands. During their probation, new officers will be on the beat.
The deployment of these officers is an operational decision for Chief Constables.