Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many police officers have (1) joined, and (2) left, the police force since 2019.

The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officers joining and leaving the police service in the “Police workforce, England and Wales” statistical bulletin. The table below shows the full-time equivalent (FTE) police officer joiners and leavers, in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, since 1 April 2019.

Table 1: Police officer (FTE) joiners and leavers, England and Wales

Note: Excludes those transferring between forces.

Separately, as part of the “Police officer uplift, England and Wales” statistical bulletin, the Home Office publishes data on new police officer recruits, on a headcount basis.

The latest data, covering recruitment up to 30 September 2022, shows there have been 37,773 new police officer recruits (headcount) to the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales since November 2019. This refers only to new police officer recruits joining the Police Service. Those returning to the police service, such as after a period of absence and transfers from other forces are not included.

Leavers data are not published as part of the “Police officer uplift” statistical bulletin.