Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will take steps to encourage police forces to prioritise funding for frontline roles rather than spending on diversity, equality, and inclusion.

Police forces that reflect the communities they serve are crucial to tackling crime and maintain public trust and confidence in a modern diverse society.

Decisions about police recruitment and the allocation of resources are a matter for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners and are therefore managed locally by forces. It is for Chief Constables and directly elected PCCs, and Mayors with PCC functions to make decisions based on their local knowledge and experience.

The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of diversity, equality and inclusion roles in police forces, or on the amount spent by forces on these roles.