Figures and salaries of Part time officers and Officers short of MPS establishment

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.25.043617

I note you seek access to the following information:

1. How many part time officers are in the MPS, female and male.
2. How many part time officers are in all firearms roles within the MPS female and male.
3. How many requests for part time hours have been rejected over the past 12 months, female and males in firearms roles.
4. How many officers are the MPS short of their establishment figure.
5. What happens to the money set aside for officer's salary where vacancies are not filled. For example if the MPS were short of 2000 officers what happens to the money put aside for salaries.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full. Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - How many part time officers are in the MPS, female and male.
Q2 - How many part time officers are in all firearms roles within the MPS female and male.

Workforce data reports are routinely published by the MPS and can be found using the following link:

MPS Workforce Data

Q3 - How many requests for part time hours have been rejected over the past 12 months, female and males in firearms roles.

No formal applications for part time working have been rejected over the last 12 months.

Q4 - How many officers are the MPS short of their establishment figure.

We have assumed that this question also relates to firearms roles.
There is not a shortfall of officers.

Q5 - What happens to the money set aside for officer's salary where vacancies are not filled. For example if the MPS were short of 2000 officers what happens to the money put aside for salaries.

The Met sets a budget on an annual basis for the financial year ending 31 March. This budget is set on the basis of plans in respect of workforce levels, planned activities and other factors. During the financial year, spend may be higher or lower than plans for a number of reasons – wither within or outside the control of the organisation. In such situations, plans are adjusted where necessary to either move budgets accordingly to areas under pressure, or to reprioritise activity. Where there is a surplus in budget because of underspends on salaries or other areas, if not reprioritised in year, this surplus can be rolled forward for use in a future year through a transfer to either a specific or general reserve, which can be drawn down in future years.

The MOPAC (include the Met) budget for 2025-26 can be found here: MOPAC and MPS Final Budget 2025-26 and Medium Term Financial Plan 2026-27 to 2027-28