Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the wastage rate was for (a) Merseyside Police and (b) all police forces in England and Wales in each year since 2010.

The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officer leavers, as part of the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletins which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.

Data on leavers are based on the number of workers who left the force during the financial year and are based on full-time equivalents. Wastage rates are calculated by dividing the number of leavers during the financial year by the total number of workers at the end of the previous year (i.e. as at 31 March). This indicates how many of those employed at the start of the current year left during the year.

These wastage rates are a good indication of turnover within the police. However, some workers may join and leave the force during the same year, and so would not be included in the rates. This is particularly true for worker types with higher turnover, such as special constables. It is not possible, based on the aggregate data available, to calculate a more precise joiner/leaver rate, as individual workers cannot be tracked.

Data on wastage rates from 2010 to 2017 are provided in the table. The next edition of the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin representing the workforce as at 31 March 2018 is due to be published on 19^th July 2018.