Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps police forces are taking to recruit police officers from the local community.

The Government is committed to recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers in England and Wales by March 2023, the biggest recruitment drive in decades.

As at 31 March 2022, 13,576 additional officers have been recruited across 43 forces in England and Wales as part of the Police Uplift Programme.

The Police Uplift Programme is supporting forces with a variety of attraction and recruitment strategies, whilst delivering a campaign that’s been designed to reach diverse audiences. This national activity complements local efforts to attract and recruit officers in each force from local communities.