Hampshire police insist they are 'on track' to hit government’s recruitment target despite suggestion they will fall short

This is despite the Police Federation of England and Wales saying it is ‘unlikely’ the government will meet its target of 20,000 new police officers across the two countries. Figures reportedly suggesting over a dozen more officers needing to be hired by Hampshire Constabulary to meet the uplift have also been dismissed by the force.

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Home Office figures show there were 3,322 police officers for Hampshire in December 2022, up four per cent from 3,203 the year before. Much of this increase was driven by officers hired through the government's uplift programme. As of December, 501 officers were recruited through the programme in Hampshire – 97 per cent of the target of 518 new officers in the area. A further 30 officers were hired through other means.

But a spokeswoman for the county’s force said ‘we are on track to hit the uplift target’ before pointing to what chief constable Olivia Pinkney submitted to the Police and Crime panel on Friday. The chief constable said: ‘The force has made real progress in the last 12 months and I am pleased to say that by March 31 we will have more than 600 extra officers compared to March 29, 2020. This means we are a force that is on track to deliver its national police uplift numbers.

‘In fact, the situation is better than simply delivering the government target. Under the commissioner’s new budget plans, that number of extra police officers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight would now increase again to 650. And this could be delivered by March 31, 2024.’

The spokeswoman added: ‘We still have cohorts of student officers coming through, so we know we will hit the target.’

It comes as police and crime commissioner Donna Jones announced she will fund 50 extra police officers for the force to improve police visibility through her 2023/24 budget. ‘The force pledged to recruit an additional 498 officers as part of the government’s National Police Uplift Programme but I wanted to go further which is why I promised another 102 on top of that, bringing the total to 600 by the end of March 2023.

‘With this year’s budget, I am able to increase the number again bringing the total additional officers for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary to 650 by March 2024.’

Across England and Wales, over 16,800 additional police officers have joined the force since April 2020 as part of the government’s pledge to recruit 20,000 new officers by March. It means 84 per cent of that target has been achieved. Home secretary Suella Braverman said she is ‘delighted’ that she believes the government is on track to fulfilling the pledge.

‘This next generation of brave police officers will add to efforts to drive down invasive crimes like burglary and neighbourhood offences, return to common sense policing and make our communities feel safer and stronger,’ she added.

Policing and crime minister Chris Philp said: ‘In a matter of months, when this once-in-a-generation recruitment drive is complete and we have a record number of officers across England and Wales, our police forces will be more representative than ever of the communities they serve.’