Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessments she has made of trends in the levels of recruitment and retention in Cheshire Police; and how many officers have (a) left and (b) joined the force since July 2024.

Forces are expected to manage their recruitment and retention activities to ensure that they meet officer headcount targets linked to funding arrangements set out in the Police Funding Settlement.

Data on joiners and leavers is published annually in July, including data for the previous year to 31 March. For the last full year that data is available (April 2024 to March 2025) Cheshire Police saw an increase in joiners of 17.1% (178 full time equivalents) alongside an increase in leavers of 4.5% (7 full time equivalents).