There are now hundreds of police officers more across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland than when we had a Labour PCC.
On 5 September 2019 the Prime Minister announced the Government commitment to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers in England and Wales by 31 March 2023. You can read the news story from the time here.
The commitment was to recruit 20,000 new police officers across England and Wales. At that time Leicestershire Police, under a Labour PCC, had 1,947 police officers. The Conservative government committed immediate £750 million to recruit 6,000 officers in the first year, with additional funding in the following years to recruit more.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said at the time:
- Getting more police on our streets is an absolute priority and I’m delighted our recruitment campaign for 20,000 new officers is now under way.
- One of the government’s first actions was to commit to putting 20,000 new police officers on our streets, and the launch of today’s campaign shows we’ve wasted no time in getting on with the job.
- Our police are the best in the world. They protect our people and communities and this government will ensure they are well resourced so they can tackle the crime on Britain’s streets.
- By bolstering the police’s ranks we can help our dedicated officers tackle crime, protect communities and be a force for all.
When I took office in 2021, taking over from a Labour PCC, I pledged to play a full role in the Police Uplift and - if possible - to exceed it. I am delighted to be able to now confirm that we have achieved the Uplift target and surpassed it. We now have a total of 2,311 police officers [full time equivalent figure 2,242]. The actual figures will vary from time to time as officers retire or join, but we aim to remain at around 2,320 officers for the foreseeable future.
Thanks to a Conservative national government and a Conservative PCC locally, we have gone from 1,947 under Labour to 2,311 now!
