Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure the police officer recruitment process encourages applicants from a wide variety of backgrounds.

The Police Uplift is a once in a generation opportunity to attract a broad range of talent, cultures and backgrounds to a career in policing and is a core ambition in our drive to recruit 20,000 additional police officers.

The police officer workforce is now more diverse than ever before. The latest data shows the highest proportion of Black, Asian, and minority ethnic and female officers since records began.

Through the Police Uplift Programme we are supporting all forces with a variety of attraction and recruitment strategies, whilst delivering a national campaign designed to reach diverse audiences. Sharing best practice, engagement with police staff associations, upskilling recruitment teams and enhanced data capture are just some of the efforts being made to improve police diversity.