Staffordshire Police Federation chair Phil Jones says the Force is making “great progress” with its drive to boost officer numbers following the release of new Home Office figures.
The Force was allocated 90 new officers in the first phase of the Government’s three-year campaign to recruit an extra 20,000 police officers in England and Wales by March 2023.
The new data shows that the Force has had an uplift of 121 officers since the recruitment drive was launched. As of 31 March, Staffordshire Police had 1,769 officers up from 1,648 when the campaign was announced at the end of 2019.
Phil welcomed the new recruits to the Force, and said: “The pandemic and the lockdowns have created a unique set of circumstances against which to recruit, but the Force is making great progress, which is really pleasing to see.
“On behalf of the Federation I’d like to welcome all of our new colleagues to the Force and wish them all the best.
“It will make a real difference to the Force and our members to have more officers on the ground as we continue to tackle the pandemic and provide all the other policing service that the public expects of us.”
However, Phil pointed to other Home Office data which shows that the Force has recruited 270 new officers as evidence more needs to be done to retain officers.
“A lot of hard work has gone into recruiting these new officers and we have to make sure that we’re working just as hard to retain them,” he said.
“And we also need to work hard to ensure we retain our experienced colleagues, with all the knowledge and skills that they have developed serving the Force and their communities.
“They are vital in bringing along and developing our new colleagues as we move into the next stage of the recruitment drive.”
Nationally, the Home Office figures show there were 137,704 officers in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales as at 31 March – an increase of 8,771.
Reacting to the figures, national Federation chair John Apter said: “These first-year uplift recruitment figures are a good start towards bringing us back to pre-austerity numbers after decades of harsh cuts, but policing is far from having the numbers of officers needed to be able to police in the way we want to.
“Added to this, the Covid-19 pandemic has put policing under more pressure than ever. With an increasing population, the goal for the Government should not just to be to make up the numbers to replace the officers we have lost to austerity but to instead exceed this target so my colleagues have the resilience they need to serve the public effectively in the way they deserve.”
Meanwhile, forces are being encouraged to use new tax breaks to recruit more officers from military backgrounds.
Companies and public sector organisations which employ Armed Forces veterans are now exempt from paying National Insurance contributions during the first 12 months of their employment.
This new tax relief came into force on 6 April and is available to every employer - regardless of when a veteran left the regular Armed Forces.
The national chair said: “This is good news and shows the Government recognises the value and contribution veterans can bring through their life experiences and strong transferable skills.
“As part of our current national recruitment campaign, forces need to grab this opportunity with both hands and do all they can to recruit people with life experience, and this includes ex-military who can contribute so much to policing.”
