Greater Manchester Police surpasses Government recruitment target

It comes as the Prime Minister said the Government has delivered on its 2019 promise to recruit 20,000 additional police officers.

However, the Police Federation of England and Wales said the increase in new officers does not mean the force is a "stronger, healthily staffed" service.

Home Office figures show 1,280 officers were recruited through the programme in Greater Manchester as of March – 11 per cent above the 1,155 target.

There were 8,067 total police officers for the area in March 2023, an eight per cent increase from 7,445 the year before.

Nationally, there were a total of 20,951 extra recruits in the past three years, in the wake of a Conservative election manifesto commitment to have 20,000 additional officers by March 2023.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: "When I stood at the steps of Downing Street six months ago, I made clear that I will do whatever it takes to build a better future for everyone in the UK, with stronger communities and safer streets.

"At the heart of that pledge is recruiting more police officers than at any time in our history, and today we have delivered on that promise."

But Steve Hartshorn, PFEW national chairman, said the Government had "backfilled" the more than 21,000 officers cut in 2010.

He added: "The effect of these cuts has been felt and seen by the public and our officers have been suffering the consequences. Due to rising attrition rates, we would need closer to 50,000 new officers to cover these losses.”

The figures show a record number of female police officers across the country, with more than 53,000 at the end of March.

There were about 12,000 police officers from an ethnic minority background – more than ever before.

In Greater Manchester Police, there were 2,920 female officers (36 per cent) and 782 officers identifying as an ethnic minority (10 per cent).

Chief Superintendent Niall Hayden-Pawson said: “I am delighted that GMP has exceeded its recruitment target and I welcome the new officers who have joined through the Police Uplift Programme.

“I’m also delighted to report that the recruitment has enabled GMP to have the highest number of female officers and officers from ethnic minority backgrounds in its history.”