Information about the duration of Police Officers in 2023
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.035883
I note you seek access to the following information:
- How many police officer (not civilian) job applications were received by the Metropolitan Police - broken down into months - in the calendar year 2023?
- Please could I have similar figures for 2013?
- If monthly breakdowns are not available, what was the yearly total?
- How many new officers were appointed in 2023 compared with 2013?
- How many officers retired during 2023 compared with 2013?
- How many officers resigned in 2023 compared with 2013?
- How many were dismissed in 2023 compared with 2013?
- What was the full complement of serving officers in 2013 and what was it in 2023?
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.
Please find below information pursuant to your request above.
Please note that we no longer hold figures for 2013 and we are therefore unable to respond to Q’s 2, 3 & 4. We have, however, provided data for 2023 below.
Q1 - How many police officer (not civilian) job applications were received by the Metropolitan Police - broken down into months - in the calendar year 2023?
| 2023 | PC | DC | Transfers | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 924 | 502 | 28 | 1,454 |
| February | 945 | 434 | 19 | 1,398 |
| March | 1185 | 542 | 15 | 1,742 |
| April | 816 | 356 | 19 | 1,191 |
| May | 788 | 305 | 22 | 1,115 |
| June | 663 | 266 | 13 | 942 |
| July | 786 | 328 | 19 | 1,133 |
| August | 934 | 386 | 24 | 1,344 |
| September | 939 | 402 | 17 | 1,358 |
| October | 834 | 355 | 17 | 1,206 |
| November | 776 | 433 | 14 | 1,223 |
| December | 731 | 304 | 12 | 1,047 |
| Total | 10,321 | 4,613 | 219 | 15,153 |
Q2 - Please could I have similar figures for 2013?
Q3 - If monthly breakdowns are not available, what was the yearly total?
Q4 - How many new officers were appointed in 2023 compared with 2013?
As explained above, this information is not held.
Q5 - How many officers retired during 2023 compared with 2013?
In 2023, a total of 707 officers left the MPS with a leaving reason of ‘Ordinary Retirement’.
Q6 - How many officers resigned in 2023 compared with 2013?
In 2023, a total of 1,283 officers left the MPS with a leaving reason of ‘Voluntary resignation’.
Q7 - How many were dismissed in 2023 compared with 2013?
In 2013, a total of 82 officers left the MPS with a leaving reason of ‘Dismissed’.
Q8 - What was the full complement of serving officers in 2013 and what was it in 2023?
The MPS had a total of 34,863 officers active on 31 December 2023.
- A total of 2,293 officers had a Termination Date from 01 January 2023 to 31 December 2023.
- This means that a total of 37,156 officers were active in 2023.
- This does not include 73 non-starters who have the same Start Date and Termination Date.
There is some data in the public domain relating to workforce data in 2013 which you may find useful, and I have provided the necessary links below for your reference.
GOV.UK – Police Workforce
Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2013
Met Police Workforce Data
AFO's and number of police officers minus AFOS from 2009 to 2020
If any of the above links are broken on receipt of this correspondence, please copy and paste them into your web browser.