14 2GM Friday July 31 2020 | the times
News
Police numbers are at their highest in
eight years after the government’s drive
to reverse an almost decade-long fall.
The total in England and Wales stood
at 133,000 at the end of last month, the
most since 2012.
Boris Johnson announced a cam-
paign to recruit 20,000 officers when
he became prime minister last July. The
scheme runs until March 2023.
The Home Office said yesterday that
almost half of the 9,000 new recruits
were part of the pledge. Mr Johnson,
who was visiting North Yorkshire
police’s headquarters in Northallerton
with Priti Patel, the home secretary,
said: “Just over one year on we are
already delivering on our promise.”
Almost 90,000 applications have
been received since the campaign
began. The Home Office said that it was
on track for its target to recruit 6,000 by
next March. Figures showed that, ex-
cluding those recruited as part of the
drive, the number of officers rose by
5 per cent from 123,189 to 129,110, the
biggest annual increase since 2003-04.
John Apter, chairman of the Police
Federation, representing rank-and-file
officers, said: “There was cynicism in
some quarters about whether the num-
bers set by the government could be
met, and it is tremendously encourag-
ing to see a growing interest in joining
the force. This interest is despite some
of the very negative reporting that has
Police numbers at
highest since 2012
formed the news cycle lately, and I am
glad these biased and horrible reports
have not put people off joining what is
an immensely challenging but very re-
warding career.”
The Home Office published separate
figures showing that there were more
than 30,000 assaults on police in the
past year, including a 2.3 per cent in-
crease in attacks that caused injury
from 10,100 to 10,400.
Just over half of police, 51 per cent, are
women. The proportion from ethnic
minorities has risen gradually from 4.
per cent in 2009 to reach 7.3 per cent. A
Whitehall official admitted that at the
current rate of progress it would be a
“slow journey” towards getting the rep-
resentation in the police to 14 per cent,
the proportion of the general popula-
tion who are from ethnic minorities.
Figures on the ethnicity of the first
tranche of the 20,000 officers have not
been published. Ms Patel said that she
wanted chief constables to use the
recruitment drive to improve diversity.
Martin Hewitt, chairman of the
National Police Chiefs’ Council, said:
“Even during the height of the Covid
challenge, forces have continued to re-
cruit and train new officers. We are not
complacent and our focus remains on
the recruitment challenge of attracting
those who are currently underrepre-
sented to consider a career with us.”
Police numbers in England and
Wales fell by about 20,000 between
March 2020 and March last year.Richard Ford Home Correspondent
RICK FINDLER/STORY PICTURE AGENCYGraduates are
flocking back
to the classroom
Nicola Woolcock
Education CorrespondentThousands more graduates want to be-
come teachers, with applications soar-
ing since the start of the pandemic.
In the past month the number of
applications for postgraduate teacher
training is almost double that for the
same period last year, according to
Ucas, the admissions service.
However, there are fears that not
enough jobs will be available because
some will be training in subject areas
where there is not a shortage and fewer
schools are recruiting this year.
The Times reported last month that
teaching was enjoying a surge in
applications during the lockdown from
middle-aged professionals wanting to
switch jobs, yet a training placement
body was turning them away. Now
Teach, which helps mid-life career-
changers become teachers, said it had
been inundated but schools were less
able to take on recruits because fewer of
their existing teachers had moved on.
Yesterday it was revealed that the
proportion of teachers not employed in
state schools 16 months after qualifying
has risen above one in five.
The Department for Education
estimates that 79 per cent of
postgraduate trainees awarded
qualified teacher status in 2018-19 will
be employed in a state-funded school in
England 16 months later. This figure
was 83 per cent in 2016-17.Ready to reign A stag in Richmond Park was imperious in front of the red dawn
in London yesterday. There is a risk of thunderstorms today. Weather, page 56