Boris Johnson has today set out his plans to put 20,000 new
police officers on the streets of Britain. Adding 20,000 new police
officers will increase the number of police officers to over
140,000, providing a larger police presence to tackle crime and
keep communities safe. The aim of this recruitment programme will
be to have over 140,000 police officers by the end of this
Parliament, with a particular focus on rural areas that have seen
the biggest reductions in...Request free
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has today set out his
plans to put 20,000 new police officers on the streets of Britain.
- Adding 20,000 new police officers will increase the
number of police officers to over 140,000, providing a larger
police presence to tackle crime and keep communities safe.
- The aim of this recruitment programme will be to
have over 140,000 police officers by the end of this Parliament,
with a particular focus on rural areas that have seen the biggest
reductions in police funding.
- 60% of Conservative Police and Crime Commissioners
have today publicly endorsed for Conservative Leader and
Prime Minister. The elected leaders responsible for policing in
their areas said that Boris ‘would do what he did for London
for every community in this country and lead the fight against
crime’.
said:
‘Soaring crime levels are destroying lives across the country
and we urgently need to tackle this. To keep our streets safe and
cut crime, we need to continue to give the police the tools they
need and crucially we need to increase the physical presence of
police on our streets. That’s why I will be increasing police
numbers by 20,000. More police on our streets means more people are
kept safe.
‘We want to make sure we keep the number of police officers high
and we need to keep visible frontline policing. That’s what we did
in London and that’s what I want to in the whole of the UK to cut
crime and keep people safe.’
Mr Johnson’s plans will see the number of new police officers
on the streets increased by 20,000 by the end of this Parliament
(2022).
ENDS
1. POLICE BUDGETS HAVE FALLEN SINCE 2010
- Police funding fell dramatically between 2010/11
and 2018/19 - overall funding fell by 19% in real terms (that
compares to a 31% increase in funding between 2000/01 and
2010/11). This was caused by direct government funding falling by
30% over the same period. Around three quarters of police costs
are on workforce, so forces had little option but to reduce their
staff numbers.
Funding reductions by police force, 2010-11 to
2018-19
- The result has been an 18% reduction in the size of
the total police workforce, including officers, police and
community support officers, and other police staff, between March
2010 and March 2018 (National Audit Office, September
2018, link). The number of
police officers has fallen from 143,734 in 2010 to 122,404 in
2018.
- This is in spite of the fact that, since 2014/15,
there have been major increases in demand on the police, focused
on complex and more serious crimes, which has increased pressure
on resources (National Audit Office, September
2018, link). This has led
to the so-called ‘overload’ effect with depleted police forces
unable to cope with the workload.
- For 2019/20, the Government has secured additional
limited funding for the police, and PCCs have announced plans to
recruit around 3,000 additional officers. However, this still
leaves officer numbers almost 20,000 down on 2010 levels, set
against increasing demand pressures.
2. BORIS JOHNSON WILL ADD 20,000 NEW POLICE
OFFICERS
- If he is elected Leader of the Conservative Party
and Prime Minister, today commits to increase
the number of police officers by 20,000. This will reverse the
decline in numbers that we have seen since 2010.
- Assuming medium gross earnings of £45,000, plus
NICs, we can place the annual cost of this expansion at £1.1bn
(HM Government, July 2018, link).
- This hiring programme will be phased out over the
course of the coming Parliament, with the aim of ensuring that
the number of police officers has increased by 20,000 by the end
of this Parliament (2022)
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