Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many full-time police officers were employed in each of the four police authority areas in Wales in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what were the corresponding figures (1) 5, and (2) 10, years previously.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce on a biannual basis as at 31 March and 30 September each year in the 'Police Workforce, England and Wales' statistical bulletin.

Data on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers employed in each police force as at 31 March is available in table H1 of the data tables accompanying the March publication and as at 30 September is available in Table 1 of the September publication data tables.

The most recently available figures are for as at 30 September 2024.

Table 1 below shows the number of FTE police officers employed in Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales, as at March and September in 2014, 2019 and 2024. As at 30 September 2024 there were 8,093 FTE police officers employed in Wales, an increase of 1,158 FTE (16.7%) compared with 5 years prior (6,935 FTE as at 30 September 2019) and an increase of 1,295 FTE (19.0%) compared with 10 years prior (6,798 FTE as at 30 September 2014).

Table 1: FTE police officers, Wales, as at 31 March 2014, 30 September 2014, 31 March 2019, 30 September 2019, 31 March 2024, 30 September 2024

The next release of 'Police workforce, England and Wales' statistical bulletin which will cover information on the number of police officers as at 31 March 2025 is due to be published in July 2025.