Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications to become a police officer were received by the police in (a) 2019 and (b) 2020; how many of those applications disclosed a previous or existing mental health condition; and how many of those who disclosed a previous or existing mental health condition in their application form received a job offer.

Data on applications to become a police officer were not collected by the Home Office prior to October 2019. Since the launch of the Government’s drive to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers by March 2023 data on the number of applications to become a police officer have been published quarterly in the Police Officer Uplift statistics.

The latest release, covering the situation as at 31 March 2021, shows that 139,312 applications to become a police officer have been received by police forces since October 2019.

The next release, covering the situation to 30 June 2021, is scheduled for publication on 28^th July, and will be available alongside previous releases here: Police Officer uplift statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The Home Office does not collect any information on the number of applications or job offers where a previous or existing mental health condition has been disclosed.