Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional measures, alongside the introduction of 20,000 police officers, they are taking to address the rate of retention of serving police officers.

Around 7,500 police officers leave the service each year, the majority through normal retirement. Forces will continue to fill these vacancies as a matter of routine. The Police Uplift Programme will deliver 20,000 completely new posts across policing in addition to replacing leavers.

Relatively few officers choose to leave their job before retirement, compared to other public and private sector workforces. Voluntary resignations remain low at a rate of under 2% of the workforce and the independent pay review bodies have concluded that police officer retention rates a stable.

Nevertheless, the Government is not complacent, and we believe that more can be done to improve the retention of key skills to support the uplift in police officer numbers. The Home Office is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, and other policing partners, to consider what further action may be needed to support retention.