Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officer posts were lost from each police force area in England and Wales in each year since 2010.

The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of police officers in each Police Force Area (PFA) in England and Wales, as well as the number of officers that leave each year, in the annual ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin.

The number of officers employed in each PFA as at 31 March of each year between 2010 and 2019 is available in open data tables here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/817734/open-data-table-police-workforce.ods

The number of officers that left in each financial year between 2009/10 and 2018/19 is available in open data tables here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/817733/open-data-table-police-workforce-leavers.ods

The Home Office does not hold data on the number of police officer posts lost, or data on how many police officer post vacancies. The size and composition of the police workforce is a local decision for Police and Crime Commissioners, working with chief officers.