260 new officers for Staffordshire Police since April 2019

A number of these officers have been recruited thanks to additional funding from the national uplift programme which was announced last year, allowing the force to accelerate existing recruitment plans which were also bolstered by additional investment in council tax precept funding.

It is anticipated a further 178 officers will be sworn in by the end of March 2021 (including the target of 90 officers directly funded through uplift), leading to an overall increase in numbers once officers who leave or retire are taken into account.

The Home Office has today released the number of officers recruited nationwide up to June 2020 since targets were set, which will see the recruitment of 20,000 officers by 2023 across England and Wales.

Justine Kenny, director of people and resources, said: “Since last April we’ve welcomed 260 new officers from all different backgrounds into force to help us improve service and outcomes for local communities.

"Our regional partnership with Staffordshire University continues to support two entry routes into policing; working as an officer and gaining a degree as part of the training (Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship) or joining as a police constable or detective constable with existing degree-level qualifications (Degree Holder Entry Programme).

“During the coronavirus pandemic we continued to recruit with adapted processes in place so that the application process and training courses adhered to guidelines. At this time we have sufficient candidates to fulfil our target numbers until April 2021 so we have temporarily closed applications but will reopen later this year.”