Record number of police officers quit with Boris Johnson’s flagship 20,000 pledge in danger

More than 6,000 extra officers must be recruited in nine months to hit target but rising numbers are quitting

The prime minister giving a speech launching the recruitment programme in September 2019 (Getty)

Boris Johnson's flagship police pledge is in danger as a record number of officers leave their jobs.

In his first speech as prime minister in July 2019, Mr Johnson vowed that he would put “another 20,000 police on the streets” by the end of March 2023.

New figures published on Wednesday show that just 234 extra officers were recruited between April and June this year, and the figure will now have to average 690 officers a month to hit the 20,000 target.

A total of 13,790 extra officers had been recruited as part of the uplift by the end of June, meaning another 6,210 are needed over the next nine months.

The government insists the programme is on track, but the final leg is being made harder by rapidly increasing numbers of officers quitting their jobs through voluntary redundancy, and hopes hinge on a recruitment surge in autumn.

An officer speaking to The Independent anonymously likened the situation to a “bucket with holes in the bottom”, as forces work to get more and more new recruits through the door to replace the experienced officers departing.

Priti Patel, the home secretary, said: “We promised the British public 20,000 more police before March 2023 and that is what we are delivering. The total number of officers is now already at a 10 year high, with thousands more still on the way to protect the public from harm.

“That means more officers out patrolling our streets, bearing down on anti-social behaviour and violent crime, and helping to level up communities across the country.”

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has warned that hitting the 20,000 target would be a “challenge” in the final months leading up to the government’s self-imposed deadline, because of more jobs opening up in the wider labour market and policing being made less attractive by declining public trust and confidence.

A report published last week said the Home Office had admitted that it “expected the recruitment of the remaining officers to be more challenging than the preceding two years”.

Figures published on Wednesday show that a record number of police are leaving forces, with the figure jumping by over a third to 8,117 in the year to March.

A Home Office report said there had been a marked increase in voluntary resignations - which is now the route taken by 42 per cent of departing police officers.

It said the figures indicated a “noticeable change”, adding: “In the decade prior to the year ending March 2022, the majority of officers leaving the service did so via normal retirement.”

It comes after a slew of warnings that rising numbers of colleagues were quitting over pay and conditions.

Several officers told the home secretary that they were struggling to live on their salaries and were considering leaving policing at a policing conference held in Manchester in May.

Brian Booth, chair of the West Yorkshire Police Federation, said he was aware of at least three officers recently leaving the force to become train drivers.

“What you are finding is that the private sector pay and conditions seem a little more favourable to being a police officer,” he told The Independent.

“I’m aware of former colleagues being Aldi store managers now, that seems to be a popular route.”

Following a two-year pay freeze that caused a bitter row between police bodies and the home secretary, the government announced a 5 per cent overall rise earlier this month.

The Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said the increase was still below inflation and officers who suffered a “20 per cent real terms pay cut since 2010,” were now being hit by the cost of living crisis.

National Chair Steve Hartshorn said: “It’s in the government’s direct interest to ensure that all police officers are paid properly and can pay their bills. If they don’t, retaining the high-quality officers our country needs - and this government promised - will be doomed to fail.”

The Home Office celebrated the fact that the number of police officers in England and Wales are now at a 10-year high, although they have not yet recovered to the totals before the coalition government came into power and started making swingeing cuts.

It pointed to the increasing numbers of female and ethnic minority officers being recruited through the uplift programme.

But the Liberal Democrats said the figures suggested that Mr Johnson’s pledge was being broken.

Home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael, said: “The Conservatives’ broken promise on police numbers is yet another example of tough talk on crime but no action.

“This government is failing victims of crime and letting far too many criminals get away with it.

“It’s clear that neither Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak have anything to offer to tackle crime, except a return to the failed policies of centralised Whitehall targets that only waste police time.”