Officers who would be released into frontline roles

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.033003

I note you seek access to the following information:

The September 2023 Policing Board papers state that 'We could release thousands of officers from support roles into frontline roles if we had the budget and flexibility to hire skilled staff'

Please could you let me know further details of this calculation including the number of officers who would be released into frontline roles, the costs of recruiting staff and the types of staff who would be recruited.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

In the September 2023 Policing Board papers the Commissioner made a reference to analysis readily available in the public domain and accessible via this link Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) The set of data shows the different ratios of police officers to staff in different roles and functions across police forces. On the basis of this benchmarking material, we have identified that there is likely to be scope to release officers from support roles into frontline roles in the Met police to bring the force more in line with other forces.

This is because we have a relatively lower number of police staff in areas such as Dealing with the Public, Investigative Support- such as Forensic roles, and support functions such as professional standards and Learning and Development than other comparable police forces. We have not calculated the cost of recruitment.