Accredited official statistics

Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2026

Published 22 July 2026

Applies to England and Wales

Frequency of release: Biannual

Forthcoming releases: Home Office statistics release calendar

Home Office responsible statistician: Jodie Hargreaves

Press enquiries: 0300 123 3535

Public enquiries: policingstatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk

Privacy information notice

Introduction

This release is an end-year update of the Police workforce, England and Wales publication series, containing information on police workers in post on 31 March 2026. This release also provides detailed information on police workers, such as protected characteristics (including age, sex and ethnicity breakdowns), joiners, leavers, length of service, promotions, long-term absences, limited duties, and the functions that workers perform.

Additionally, this release (chapter 3) includes information on growth under the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee (NPG). This is the second official statistics release which reports on growth under the Neighbourhood Policing Programme (following on from reporting of the first 6 months of growth in the ‘Police workforce, as at 30 September 2025’ statistical release). In December 2024, under the Safer Streets Mission, the government announced the NPG and a commitment to put more police personnel into neighbourhood policing roles. Funding for the additional neighbourhood policing personnel commenced on 1 April 2025 and updated police force delivery plans for the first year are available in Table 4.1 of the Neighbourhood Policing tables. Chapter 3 includes more information and reporting of growth under the programme.

Key findings

Headline workforce figures (chapter 2)

• the total paid police workforce (including officers, staff, police community support officers (PCSOs) and designated officers) as at 31 March 2026, was 234,441 full-time equivalents (FTE), a decrease of 0.6% (1,332 FTE) on the previous year (235,773 FTE)
• decreases were seen in all paid worker types, with police officers down 0.4% (566 FTE), PCSOs down 0.8% (55 FTE) and police staff and designated officers down 0.9% (710 FTE)

Table 1: Police workforce (FTE), as at 31 March 2025 and 2026, England and Wales

Worker type	2025	2026	Change (number)	Percentage change (%)
Police officers	146,452	145,886	-566	-0.4
Police staff and designated officers	82,007	81,296	-710	-0.9
Police community support officers	7,315	7,259	-55	-0.8
Total police workforce	235,773	234,441	-1,332	-0.6
Special constables (headcount)	5,520	5,196	-324	-5.9
Police support volunteers (headcount)	6,009	6,035	+26	+0.4

• the number of police officers peaked at 147,745 FTE in March 2024. The figure as at 31 March 2026 (145,886 FTE) is a decrease of 1,859 FTE (1.3%) on that peak

Neighbourhood policing functions (chapter 3)

• as at 31 March 2026, there were 20,989 FTE police officers and PCSOs in neighbourhood policing roles (including officers in training destined for a neighbourhood policing role), a 22.2% increase (3,814 FTE) on the 31 March 2025 baseline when there were 17,175 FTE officers and PCSOs in neighbourhood policing roles
• of the 20,989 FTE neighbourhood policing personnel; 14,599 FTE (69.6%) were police officers and 6,390 FTE (30.4%) were PCSOs

All functions (chapter 4)

• the number of police officers working in frontline roles in England and Wales decreased by 1.3% in the 12 months to 31 March 2026, to 115,764 FTE police officers (from 117,282 FTE the previous year)
• the proportion of police officers employed in frontline roles as at 31 March 2026 was 90.5% (compared with 90.3% as at 31 March 2025); the proportion (at 90.5%) in March 2026 is below the peak in both March 2015 and March 2016 at 93.4%

Length of service (chapter 5)

• in England and Wales, 43,525 police officers (headcount) had less than 5 years of service as at 31 March 2026, which accounted for 29.4% of all police officers
• the number and proportion of officers with less than 5 years of service has been increasing from 14.4% of all police officers in March 2016 (when data collection on length of service began), to 29.4% of all police officers in the latest year

Joiners (chapter 6)

• excluding transfers, 8,872 FTE police officers joined the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales in the year ending 31 March 2026, an increase of 1,017 FTE (12.9%) on the previous year

Leavers (chapter 7)

• excluding transfers, 9,240 FTE police officers left the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales in the year ending 31 March 2026, an increase of 445 FTE (5.1%) on the previous year
• the police officer leaver rate (leavers in the financial year as a proportion of those in post at the start of the year) was 6.3%, compared with 6.0% in the previous year, and 6.6% at the peak in the year ending March 2023
• the leaver rate for police officer voluntary resignations in the year ending 31 March 2026, at 3.2%, is the same as the previous year
• of police officers leaving the police service in England and Wales in the year ending 31 March 2026, 3,203 police officers (headcount) had less than 5 years’ service, accounting for 34.0% of leavers within the financial year
• police officers voluntarily resigning from the service were more likely to be newer officers, with 60.6% of all police officers voluntarily resigning having less than 5 years’ service

Ethnicity (chapter 9)

• there were 12,301 FTE ethnic minority (excluding White minority) police officers in the latest year, making up 8.7% of police officers in England and Wales, the highest proportion of ethnic minority (excluding White minority) officers since comparable records began in March 2003

Sex (chapter 10)

• there were 53,712 FTE female police officers in the 43 territorial police forces on 31 March 2026, making up 36.8% of police officers in England and Wales, the highest number and proportion of female officers since comparable records began in March 2003

Long term absence (chapter 12)

• there were 6,670 FTE police officers on long-term absence in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, equivalent to 4.6% of all officers, this compares to 4.3% of officers in the previous year

Information on other worker types are available within the relevant chapters.

1. Introduction

1.1 General introduction

This release contains statistics on the number of police officers, staff, designated officers^{[footnote 1]}, PCSOs, special constables and police support volunteers (PSVs)^{[footnote 2]} in post on 31 March 2026. The statistics cover all the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. Data from the British Transport Police (BTP) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) is provided in the accompanying data tables, though their figures are largely excluded from analysis within this report and do not count towards the England and Wales total (which relates to the 43 territorial forces only).

Unless otherwise stated, total workforce figures quoted in the bulletin include those on career breaks or other forms of long-term absence, as well as those seconded into police forces from other forces or central services. It excludes those seconded out from forces to central services. The workforce figures in this release are all presented on a full-time equivalent (FTE) basis unless indicated otherwise. The accompanying data tables provide the same information on a headcount basis.

The user guide to the police workforce statistics contains further information, including a glossary, conventions used, and other background information. It contains further information on the quality and limitations of the various data sets, and the ways in which the Home Office engages with users of the statistics.

The data in this release, can be found in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026’ data tables and the accompanying open data tables.

1.2 Counting conventions

Exclusions from force figures

Individuals working in, or for, the Office of the police and crime commissioner (OPCC), (categorised with a function code of 11) are excluded from forces’ figures as they are directly supporting the PCC’s office. In addition, individuals seconded out of the force are excluded from forces’ figures as they are not contributing resource to the force. However, officers seconded out to another force, will be counted in the forces’ figures of the force they are seconded into.

Frontline policing model

Since 2015 the Home Office has based the functions data on the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Police Objective Analysis (POA) framework. Each POA function can be categorised in the ‘frontline policing model’ to either: visible operational frontline, non-visible operational frontline, frontline support and business support. Details of how each subfunction is categorised in the frontline policing model can be found in Table F4 of the accompanying data tables. When calculating proportions in the functions chapter, using the frontline policing model, individuals recorded under the ‘Other’ function category, ‘National Policing’ functions or those with an unknown function code have been excluded. The ‘Other’ category includes individuals on long-term leave (such as for maternity or paternity, career break, full-time education, suspension, sickness, compassionate or special leave, and any other long-term leave) and those who are a student still in classroom-based training.

Student counting rules

For 31 March 2025 data, the Home Office updated its guidance on how to record functions data for students, stating if a student is still in classroom-based training, their function code should be recorded as ‘Other’ as typically they won’t be placed in a role until their training is completed. During a data validation exercise to improve neighbourhood policing data, forces were asked to provide an explanation for changes made to their 31 March 2024 data. One common theme was that some forces had recorded student officers who were still in training as being assigned to a neighbourhood policing function. This led to the Home Office issuing updated guidance on how students should be recorded. This change in guidance means functions data for 2025 onwards is not directly comparable with data collected in previous years.

1.3 Changes in this release

Expansion of rank

In response to user feedback, the Home Office continually reviews whether the provision of data could be expanded. In this release, the length of service open data tables, which includes both the length of service of police officers in post on 31 March, and the length of service of leavers from the police service in the year ending 31 March, have been expanded to include rank. The functions open data table has also been expanded in this release to include rank.

Format of data tables

Data in this release can be found in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026’ data tables. Home Office statisticians have reviewed the format of these accompanying data tables, alongside the Government Analysis Function guidance on releasing statistics in spreadsheet to assess their accessibility and usability. As such, following the guidance, the Home Office have amended the appearance of the accompanying data tables.

1.4 Revisions

Each year, analysts at the Home Office conduct a data confirmation exercise, which provides forces the opportunity to review data submitted, as at the 31 March, for inclusion in this publication. The exercise provides comparisons of the forces’ data to previous time periods, and the Home Office will ask forces to review large year-on-year variations. This exercise can reveal that revisions are required to data forces have previously submitted. It is standard practice to incorporate revisions for previous years in the latest release, under the Home Office’s revisions and correction policy which upholds the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Data published in this release supersedes data previously published. Tables 1.1 and 1.2 show the scale of routine revisions to previously published data on police workforce size.

Table 1.1: Updates to previously published police workforce figures (FTE), England and Wales

Worker type	Time period	Original figure	Amended figure	Difference (volume)	Percentage (%) difference
Police officers	Mar-25	146,442.44	146,451.59	+9.15	+0.01
Police staff and designated officers	Mar-25	82,002.36	82,006.56	+4.20	+0.01
PCSOs	Mar-25	7,314.78	7,314.61	-0.17	<0.01
Police officers	Sep-25	145,549.97	145,549.17	-0.80	<0.01
Police staff and designated officers	Sep-25	81,662.35	81,676.14	+13.79	+0.02
PCSOs	Sep-25	7,213.10	7,211.34	-1.76	-0.02

Table 1.2: Updates to previously published police workforce figures (headcount), England and Wales

Worker type	Time period	Original figure	Amended figure	Difference (volume)	Percentage (%) difference
Police officers	Mar-25	148,453	148,452	-1	<0.01
Special constable	Mar-25	5,521	5,520	-1	-0.02
Police officers	Sep-25	147,621	147,622	+1	<0.01
Police staff and designated officers	Sep-25	88,558	88,580	+22	+0.02
Special constable	Sep-25	5,304	5,310	+6	+0.11

In addition to the changes on police workforce size (as outlined in Tables 1.1 and 1.2), minor revisions were submitted to other variables in the data collection, such as individuals’ protected characteristics or function code. The revisions affected 31 March 2024, 31 March 2025 and 30 September 2025. The data tables published alongside these statistics, which include data on worker types by police force area (PFA), contain the latest data, including revisions to previous time periods. Updated open data tables have been published on the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ open data tables page on gov.uk. The absences, age, ethnicity, functions, joiners, leavers, length of service, and workforce open data tables have been updated following routine revisions from police forces. The limited duties and promotions open data tables were not affected by these revisions.

Due to the revisions made to the as at 31 March 2024, March 2025 and September 2025 data, the data tables accompanying the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2024’ bulletin as published on 19 March 2025, the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2025’ bulletin as published on 9 October 2025, and the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales: 30 September 2025’ bulletin are now out of date and are superseded by the open data tables and data tables accompanying this release.

1.5 Accredited Official Statistics status

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) the regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA). They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, impartiality, quality and value in Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘Accredited Official Statistics’.

Given the known issues around the quality of the data, statistics in this release on length of service, of both officers in post and of leavers, are designated as Official Statistics, and not Accredited Official Statistics. Further information can be found in the relevant leavers and length of service chapters.

The neighbourhood policing statistics, presented in chapter 3, include data on the number of police officers and PCSOs in training destined for neighbourhood policing roles. This information has been provided by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), and although it has been confirmed by police forces, it has not been independently reviewed by the OSR. These statistics should be treated as Official Statistics and not Accredited Official Statistics.

1.6 Accountability statement

Our statistical practice is regulated by the OSR which sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly via policingstatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

2. Headline workforce figures

Key findings

• as at 31 March 2026 there were 234,441 FTE police workers (including officers, staff, designated officers and PCSOs) employed by the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales, a decrease of 1,332 FTE (0.6%) on the previous year
• this is 10,056 FTE (4.1%) less than the peak of 244,497 FTE paid police workers in March 2010^{[footnote 3]} (comparable records began in March 2003)
• as at 31 March 2026, there were 145,886 FTE police officers in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, a decrease of 566 FTE (0.4%) on the previous year
• this is 1,859 FTE (1.3%) less than the peak of 147,745 FTE police officers in March 2024 (comparable records began in March 2003)
• in addition, as at 31 March 2026, there were 2,817 FTE police officers employed by the BTP in England and Wales, 5,540 FTE officers in the NCA in England and Wales^{[footnote 4]}, and 350 FTE police officers on secondment to central services^{[footnote 5]}

2.1 Total police workforce

As at 31 March 2026, there were 234,441 FTE workers (including police officers, staff, designated officers and PCSOs) employed by the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales (Table 2.1), a decrease of 1,332 FTE, or 0.6%, compared with a year earlier (when there were 235,773 FTE workers). In addition to the 234,441 FTE paid police workers as at 31 March 2026, there were 5,196 special constables (headcount) and 6,035 PSVs (headcount) in the 43 police forces in England and Wales. Special constables and PSVs do not have contracted working hours so their numbers are provided on a headcount basis rather than FTE.

Table 2.1: Police workforce (FTE), as at 31 March 2025 and 2026, England and Wales¹

Rank	2025	2026	Change (number)	Percentage change (%)
Chief officers2	263	269	+7	+2.6
Chief superintendents	372	359	-13	-3.5
Superintendents	1,057	1,069	+12	+1.1
Chief inspectors	2,196	2,219	+23	+1.0
Inspectors	6,902	6,771	-131	+1.9
Sergeants	22,429	22,581	+153	+0.7
Constables	113,233	112,617	-616	-0.5
Total police officer ranks	146,452	145,886	-566	-0.4
Police staff and designated officers3	82,007	81,296	-710	-0.9
Police community support officers	7,315	7,259	-55	-0.8
Total police workforce	235,773	234,441	-1,332	-0.6
Special constables (headcount)4	5,520	5,196	-324	-5.9
Police support volunteers (headcount)4	6,009	6,035	+26	+0.4

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: workforce open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes BTP.
2. Includes assistant chief constables, deputy chief constables and chief constables, and their equivalents in the Metropolitan Police Service and City of London Police.
3. Police staff and designated officers have been combined as some forces are unable to provide data on designated officers separately.
4. Special constables and PSVs do not have contracted working hours so their numbers are provided on a headcount basis rather than FTE.

As at 31 March 2026, the total number of police officers decreased by 566 FTE (0.4%) compared to the previous year. In terms of police ranks, there were decreases in the number of constables, inspectors and chief superintendents compared to the previous year, whilst increases were seen in all other ranks (of sergeant, chief inspector, superintendent and chief officer). Amongst the other paid worker types, the number of police staff (including designated officers) decreased by 710 FTE (0.9%), and the number of PCSOs decreased by 55 FTE (0.8%) compared with the previous year. Amongst the unpaid workforce, the volume of special constables decreased by 324 (5.9%) and PSVs decreased by 26 (0.4%) compared to the previous year.

Figure 2.1 shows the long-term trend in police workforce numbers, as at 31 March each year, broken down by worker type. Workforce numbers had been increasing to 2010, then decreased in each year before reaching a low point in 2017. Between 2018 and 2024 the previous downward trend reversed, and the size of the total police workforce (all officer and staff types) increased each year. Since 2024, the total police workforce has decreased. In the latest year, as at 31 March 2026, the total workforce decreased slightly by 1,332 FTE (0.6%) compared to the previous year and is down 10,056 FTE (4.1%) on the previous peak of 244,497 in March 2010.

Figure 2.1: Police workforce (FTE), by worker type, as at 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2026, England and Wales¹

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; table H3

Notes:

1. Excludes BTP.

2.2 Police officers

Trends in police officer numbers

As at 31 March 2026, there were 145,886 FTE police officers in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales (147,822 in headcount terms). On an FTE basis, officer numbers as at 31 March 2026 are down 566 FTE, or 0.4%, compared to the previous year (146,452), and down 1,859 FTE, or 1.3%, compared to the peak of 147,745 FTE police officers in March 2024. On a headcount basis, officer numbers as at 31 March 2026 are down 630, or 0.4%, compared to the previous year (148,452), and down 1,946, or 1.3%, compared to the peak of 149,768 officers (headcount) in March 2024.

Figure 2.2 shows the change in FTE police officers, compared with the previous year, in the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales from 31 March 2010 to 2026. Between 2010 and 2018 there were year-on-year decreases in the number of police officers, this was followed by an upward trend in officer numbers between 2019 and 2024 (when recruitment relating to the Police Uplift Programme was ongoing). The decrease in police officer numbers between March 2024 and March 2025 was the first year-on-year decline in police numbers since March 2018. In the latest year, between March 2025 and 2026, officer numbers have decreased by 566 FTE.

Figure 2.2: Change in the number of police officers (FTE), as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2026, compared with the previous March, England and Wales¹

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; table H3

Notes:

1. Excludes BTP.

The Accredited Official Statistics ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical series covers snapshots at March and September each year, on both an FTE and headcount basis. As these standard reporting dates do not align with the change of Government on 4 July 2024, the NPCC provided additional management information (MI) covering the period April to August 2024, which was published in an Annex to the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 30 September 2024’ release. Based on this NPCC MI, which is available on a headcount basis only, there has been a decrease of 714 officers (or 0.5%) compared to 148,536 police officers (headcount) on 30 June 2024, the closest date to the change of Government.

Officers by police force area

Figure 2.3 shows the percentage change in the number of police officers as at 31 March 2026 compared with 31 March 2025 by PFA. The chart shows, of the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, 9 forces recorded reductions in police officer numbers as at 31 March 2026 compared with 12 months earlier whilst 34 forces recorded increases in officer numbers.

The overall reduction in officer numbers across England and Wales was driven largely by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), which saw a decrease of 1,798 FTE officers over the period. The remaining 8 forces that recorded reductions collectively decreased by 78 FTE officers. In contrast, the 34 forces who increased their officer numbers did so by a combined total of 1,310 FTE. As a result, the total number of police officers in England and Wales fell by 566 FTE compared with the previous year.

Figure 2.3: Change in the number of police officers (FTE), as at 31 March 2026 compared with 31 March 2025, by police force area, England and Wales¹

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; table H5

Notes:

1. Excludes BTP

As at 31 March 2026 there were 236 FTE police officers per 100,000 resident population in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales^{[footnote 6]}. The MPS had the highest rate of officers per population, at 347 FTE, while Lincolnshire had the lowest rate at 152 FTE officers per 100,000 resident population.

Other police officers

While not included in the headline figures, BTP employed 2,817 FTE police officers in England and Wales as at 31 March 2026, a decrease of 35 FTE (1.2%) compared to the previous year. In addition, there were 5,540 FTE police officers in the NCA in England and Wales^{[footnote 7]}, and a further 350 FTE police officers seconded out to central services^{[footnote 8]}.

2.3 Other worker types and volunteers

Police staff and designated officers

Figure 2.4 shows that, in general, police staff and designated officer numbers have followed a similar trend to police officer numbers over the past decade. Between 2010 and 2017, there was a downward trend in the number of police staff and designated officers. Since March 2017, there has been an upward trend in the number of police staff and designated officers up to 82,007 FTE as at 31 March 2025. In the latest year, the number of police staff and designated officers has fallen to 81,296 FTE, a decrease of 710 FTE (0.9%) compared to March 2025. Current numbers of police staff and designated officers are 2,140 FTE (2.6%) below the peak recorded in March 2010 of 83,436 FTE.

Figure 2.4: Police staff and designated officers¹ (FTE), as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; table H3

Notes:

1. Police staff and designated officers have been combined as some forces are unable to provide data on designated officers separately.
2. Excludes BTP.

Police community support officers

Figure 2.5 shows since 31 March 2010 there has been a general downward trend in the number of PCSOs in England and Wales. As at 31 March 2026, there are 7,259 FTE PCSOs a decrease of 55 FTE (0.8%) compared with the previous year. Current numbers of PCSOs are 9,658 FTEs (57.1%) below the peak recorded in March 2010 of 16,918 FTE.

Figure 2.5: Police community support officers (FTE), as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2026, England and Wales¹

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; table H3

Notes:

1. Excludes BTP.

Special constables and police support volunteers

As at 31 March 2026, there were 5,196 special constables (headcount) in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, a decrease of 324 special constables (5.9%) compared to the previous year.

Figure 2.6 shows special constable numbers peaked in March 2012 at 20,343 (headcount). Since March 2012 the number of special constables has decreased year-on-year. As at 31 March 2026, the number of special constables was 15,147 headcount below the March 2012 peak.

Figure 2.6: Special constables (headcount)¹, as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; table H3

Notes:

1. Special constables do not have contracted working hours so their numbers are provided on a headcount basis rather than FTE.
2. Excludes BTP.

As at 31 March 2026, there were 6,035 PSVs (headcount) in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, a small increase of 26 volunteers compared to 31 March 2025 (6,009 PSVs).

Special constable and PSV numbers can fluctuate depending on how often forces review their data and remove those who have not recently done shifts from their systems. Therefore, year-on-year changes in the number of special constables and PSVs should be treated with some caution, particularly at PFA level.

3. Neighbourhood policing function

In December 2024, under the Safer Streets Mission, the government announced the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee (NPG) and a commitment to put 13,000 additional personnel into neighbourhood policing.

This chapter reports on progress under this commitment. It presents growth of police officers and PCSOs in neighbourhood policing (NHP) roles from the 31 March 2025 baseline, including officers in training destined for neighbourhood roles (that is, officers who are not yet fully deployable).

This is the second official statistics update on the government’s progress towards achieving an additional 13,000 neighbourhood personnel by the end of this Parliament. Detailed analysis on neighbourhood policing, including growth, was first published in January 2026 and is updated every 6 months alongside the regular March and September ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical releases. An ad-hoc update based on management information (MI) was also published on 7 April 2026 which reported on growth as at 28 February 2026; this was to provide an early indication that the year one target (as first published) of 2,972 additional neighbourhood personnel had been met.

Key findings

As at 31 March 2026:

• there were 20,989 FTE police officers and PCSOs in neighbourhood policing roles (including officers in training destined for a neighbourhood policing role), an increase of 3,814 FTE (22.2%) on the 31 March 2025 baseline, when there were 17,175 FTE officers and PCSOs in neighbourhood policing roles
• of the 20,989 FTE neighbourhood policing personnel; 14,599 FTE (69.6%) were police officers and 6,390 FTE (30.4%) were PCSOs
• of the 14,599 FTE neighbourhood police officers, 350 FTE were in training and destined for a neighbourhood policing role and of the 6,390 FTE PCSOs, 122 FTE were in training and destined for a neighbourhood policing role
• the 3,814 FTE growth of police officers and PCSOs in neighbourhood roles as at March 2026 exceeds the year one target of 3,011 FTE^{[footnote 9]} Of the 3,814 FTE growth, 3,494 FTE (91.6%) FTE was police officer growth and 319 FTE (8.4%) was PCSO growth

3.1 Introduction

This chapter provides an update on progress towards the government’s commitment towards delivering an additional 13,000 neighbourhood personnel by the end of this Parliament. This update reports on growth of police officers and PCSOs in neighbourhood policing roles (including officers in training destined for a neighbourhood policing role) as at 31 March 2026, that is, at the end of year one of the Neighbourhood Policing Programme (NPP). The most recently published update reported on growth as at 28 February 2026 (in the form of an ad-hoc release based on MI) and prior to that, the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales: 30 September 2025’ statistical release included an update on progress under the NPP after the first 6 months. The ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical release is a biannual publication and for the duration of the NPP will include a 6-monthly update on growth in neighbourhood policing roles as at 31 March and as at 30 September.

Statistical reporting of growth under the Neighbourhood Policing Programme (NPP)

Police personnel who spend the majority of their time carrying out Neighbourhood Policing activities include:

• neighbourhood policing teams, and Safer Neighbourhood teams whose primary role is neighbourhood based
• planned response that is scheduled or dealt with by appointment

These officers are assigned a function code of 1a under the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Police Objective Analysis (POA) functions framework (for more detail on the functions framework, see chapter 4).

Progress updates under the NPP are based on growth of policing personnel in CIPFA function 1a, plus officers in training destined for a role in neighbourhood policing. Growth data is derived from 2 sources:

1. The Home Office Police Workforce Census: this is an annual data collection and captures information on police officers and PCSOs in a neighbourhood policing role as at 31 March. This data is available as part of the police workforce functions data. Only officers who are actively contributing to a function are assigned a function code as part of this collection^{[footnote 10]}. Therefore, newly recruited police officers and PCSOs who are in training are assigned a function code of ‘Other’ and are not separately identifiable for the purposes of monitoring growth under the NPP.
2. The NPCC bespoke monthly management information collection: this data collection was set up for the purpose of monitoring growth in neighbourhood policing on a more frequent basis. As well as capturing information on the number of officers and PCSOs in a neighbourhood policing role (CIPFA 1a), this collection also includes a requirement for forces to report on officers who are in training and destined for a neighbourhood policing role. Including this data in the growth figure reflects the funding that forces receive to increase their neighbourhood policing capability.

The inclusion of officers recorded as ‘in training’ within the total growth figure means that the totals presented in this chapter are higher than the neighbourhood policing (CIPFA 1a) figure reported in the functions data in chapter 4. This is because the growth figures in this chapter include both personnel recorded under the CIPFA 1a function (neighbourhood policing) and personnel currently in training who are expected to be deployed to a CIPFA 1a role on completion of their training; training periods vary by force, but it is expected that new police officer recruits are typically visible from 6 months, and PCSOs from 2 months.

The 2 data sources are reconciled in advance of the 31 March edition of the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ publication, as part of the quality assurance checks carried out by Home Office statisticians. This reconciliation process involves a validation exercise with police forces.

An in-depth data validation exercise of the March 2024 functions data was carried out following the announcement of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. This resulted in substantial revisions to the 2024 neighbourhood policing data, further details of which can be found in the ‘Provisional revision to neighbourhood policing data, at 31 March 2024’ publication and final revisions published in the ‘Police workforce, as at 31 March 2025’ statistical release. Data prior to March 2024 has not been reviewed and updated in the same manner, and is therefore not directly comparable with data from 31 March 2024 onwards.

Information presented in this chapter is based on police officers and PCSOs employed in neighbourhood policing roles. Whilst special constables may contribute to neighbourhood policing activities, due to the varied and voluntary nature of special constable roles, they are not routinely assigned a specific function code in the same way as police officers and PCSOs and are therefore not currently included in reporting under the NPP. Total special constable headcount is available in the headline workforce figures in chapter 2.

Figures presented in this chapter and accompanying data tables are on an FTE basis, in line with how functions data is reported in this statistical series.

All growth is measured against the 31 March 2025 baseline (section 3.2) has more detail on the baseline). Further detail on how growth is measured under the NPP can be found in the accompanying user guide.

3.2. Neighbourhood policing under the NPP

In December 2024, under the Safer Streets Mission, the government announced the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee and a commitment to put 13,000 additional policing personnel into neighbourhood policing.

On 10 April 2025, the then Home Secretary wrote to police and crime commissioners (PCCs) and chief constables on plans to support growth in neighbourhood policing, including £200 million of funding for the year ending 31 March 2026 to support the initial growth in neighbourhood policing. Forces had access to a share of this fund from 1 April 2025, on the basis that they demonstrated growth in their neighbourhood policing teams.

Baseline as at 31 March 2025

The baseline for measuring growth is 31 March 2025, as first published in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales: at 30 September 2025’ statistical release, with funding for growth available from 1 April 2025. While the workforce statistics on functions for as at 31 March 2025 (chapter 4) may have received revisions since the baseline was set, these are not included in the reporting under the NPP.

As at 31 March 2025, there were 17,715 FTE police personnel in neighbourhood policing roles, of which 11,104 FTE were police officers and 6,071 FTE were PCSOs.

Table 3.1: Police officers and PCSOs (FTE) in neighbourhood policing roles¹, as at 31 March 2025, England and Wales²

Worker type	As at 31-Mar-25
Police officers	11,104
PCSOs	6,071
Total NHP officers	17,175

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: functions open data table’

Notes:

1. Figures for those in NHP roles excludes employees on long-term absence, defined as absence that has lasted for more than 28 calendar days, as at the end of the reporting period.
2. Excludes BTP.

Delivery plans

Across England and Wales, forces agreed to deliver 2,972 FTE police officers and PCSOs by the end of the first financial year, covering the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

Following publication of force delivery plans in April 2025, adjustments were made by forces to account for revised recruitment and operational deployment plans. These changes resulted in an increase to the year one target of 38 FTE, totalling 3,011 FTE police officers and PCSOs. Table 3.2 shows the change in the national target between first publication of the delivery plans and the updated delivery plans, by worker type.

Table 3.2: Update to delivery plans for the Neighbourhood Policing Programme, by worker type, compared with delivery plans as first published in April 2025, England and Wales

Worker type	As first published April 2025 (FTE)	Updated plans (FTE)	Change (FTE)
Police officers	2,584	2,614	+30
PCSOs	388	396	+8
Total NHP officers	2,972	3,011	+38

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: neighbourhood policing data tables’; Table NHP2a and NHP2b

Individual force plans as first published are available in Table NHP2a of the accompanying neighbourhood policing data tables. Updated plans by PFA are available in Table NHP2b of the accompanying neighbourhood policing data tables.

Growth in this chapter is reported against the updated 3,011 FTE target.

Neighbourhood policing as at 31 March 2026

As at 31 March 2026, there were a total of 20,989 FTE personnel in neighbourhood policing (NHP) roles, or in training and destined for an NHP role, equating to growth on the baseline of 3,814 FTE. Those in NHP roles, or in training for NHP roles, comprised of 14,599 FTE police officers (of which 350 FTE were in training), and 6,390 FTE PCSOs (of which 122 FTE were in training).

The increase of 3,814 FTE (up 22.2%) police personnel in NHP at the end of the first year of the NPG can mostly be attributed to an increase in police officers, who accounted for 3,494 FTE (91.6%) of the growth, with PCSOs contributing the remaining 319 FTE (8.4%) (Table 3.3).

Table 3.3: Police officers and PCSOs (FTE) in NHP roles, including personnel in training destined for NHP roles¹, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Worker type	31-Mar-25 baseline3	In post as at 31-Mar-26	In training destined for NHP as at 31-Mar-26	Total as at 31-Mar-26	Growth (FTE) on 31-Mar-25	Growth (%) on 31-Mar-25
Police officers	11,104	14,249	350	14,599	+3,494	+31.5
PCSOs	6,071	6,268	122	6,390	+319	+5.3
Total NHP officers	17,175	20,517	472	20,989	+3,814	+22.2

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: neighbourhood policing data tables’

Notes:

1. Excludes employees on long-term absence.
2. The 31 March 2025 baseline figures have been set as first published in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 September 2025’ bulletin. This means that the 1a figures differ slightly to those available in the functions open data table which are routinely revised following updates from police forces.
3. Excludes BTP.

Breakdowns by PFA are available in Tables NHP3 and NHP4 of the accompanying neighbourhood policing data tables.

Progress achieved against year one delivery plans at 31 March 2026

At 31 March 2026 there were an additional 3,814 FTE police personnel in NHP roles; this means that growth in neighbourhood policing personnel exceeded the total year one NPP target of 3,011 FTE (126.7% of the target). Table 3.4 shows this broken down by worker type; at the end of year one,133.7% of the target for police officers in NHP was achieved and 80.6% PCSOs in NHP target.

Table 3.4: Progress against total planned growth for year one of the NPP (FTE)^1,2, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales³

Worker type	Updated delivery plans for year one (year ending 31 March 2026)	Total in NHP as at 31 March 2026	of which, in training and destined for NHP	Actual growth as at 31 March 2026	Proportion (%) of year one target achieved as at 31 March 2026
Police officers	2,614	14,599	350	+3,494	133.7
PCSOs	396	6,390	122	+319	80.6
Total NHP officers	3,011	20,989	472	+3,814	126.7

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: neighbourhood policing data tables’

Notes:

1. Includes personnel in training destined for NHP roles.
2. Excludes employees on long term absence.
3. Excludes BTP.

3.3 Experience of neighbourhood policing function

As noted in the ‘Statistical reporting of growth under the NPP’ section, police officers and PCSOs who are in training and destined for a neighbourhood policing role are captured in the NPCC monthly collection. Whilst information is collected on personnel in training as part of the police workforce statistical collection, those destined for a neighbourhood policing role are not identifiable in the annual police workforce data and therefore the following sections only include analysis on police officers and PCSOs who were recorded in the CIPFA 1a function as at 31 March 2026 (that is, this section excludes those still in training).

New joiners to neighbourhood policing

The police workforce data is based on a snapshot as at 31 March 2026. The additional 3,814 FTE in neighbourhood policing represents the net increase above the baseline at that point in time. As officers and PCSOs regularly join, leave, transfer roles or move between neighbourhood policing and other functions, the personnel contributing to this growth change over time. As a result, it is not possible to identify or provide characteristics of a specific cohort of individuals who make up the 3,814 FTE growth figure.

Therefore, the following analysis is based on all officers and PCSOs in neighbourhood policing roles as at 31 March 2026. It excludes those in training and destined for neighbourhood policing roles. It should also be noted that whilst the new joiners reported in this section were recorded in the neighbourhood policing function as at 31 March 2026, it is possible they may have joined into another function during the year and moved into the neighbourhood policing function later on in the year.

As at 31 March 2026, of the 20,517 FTE police officers and PCSOs in a neighbourhood policing role (excluding those in training), 1,206 FTE (5.9%) were standard direct recruits recruited since April 2025.

The proportion of standard direct recruits varied by worker type; with 472 FTE (3.3%) of the 14,249 FTE NHP police officers categorised as this joiner type, compared with 734 FTE (11.7%) of the 6,268 FTE PCSOs in NHP roles.

Length of service of police personnel in neighbourhood policing

Length of service is usually reported on a headcount basis (further details can be found in chapter 5). However, for consistency with reporting of the neighbourhood policing function, the proportions presented in this section are based on calculations using the FTE figures.

There are known data quality issues with the length of service data which are explained in more detail in chapter 5. This includes recording differences between forces, for example some police forces record the length of service based on the date the officer started their current role (rather than the date the officer joined the police service). This is likely to skew the data towards shorter service periods and under-record longer periods of service when individuals have moved posts or forces. Caution should therefore be taken when interpreting the data.

Figure 3.1 shows that, as at 31 March 2026, the majority of police officers and PCSOs in NHP roles had either between one to less than 5 years’ service (27.7%) or between 5 years to less than 10 years’ service (28.5%). A small proportion (5.8%) had less than one year service.

The length of service distribution for all police officers and PCSOs (based on FTE) compared with those in neighbourhood policing showed a similar pattern, although a larger proportion of officers in neighbourhood policing roles had less experience than officers across the total workforce; 62.1% of police officers and PCSOs in neighbourhood policing roles had less than 10 years’ experience compared with 53.6% of all police officers and PCSOs. However, there was a similar proportion of officers with less than one year experience; 5.8% for police officers and PCSOs in NHP roles compared with 6.1% of all police officers and PCSOs.

On the other end of the distribution, there were smaller proportions of police officers and PCSOs in neighbourhood policing roles with a longer length of service compared with all police officers and PCSOs; 11.2% of personnel in neighbourhood policing roles had between 20 to less than 25 years’ service, compared with 16.7% of all police officers and PCSOs, and 3.3% of personnel in neighbourhood policing roles had between 25 to less than 30 years’ service, compared with 6.9% of all police officers and PCSOs.

A full breakdown is available in Table NHP8 of the accompanying neighbourhood policing data tables.

Figure 3.1: Proportion (%) of policing personnel in neighbourhood policing roles and in total workforce¹ (FTE), by length of service group, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: neighbourhood policing data tables: Table NHP8’

Notes:

1. Neighbourhood policing figures exclude employees on long-term absence.
2. Excludes BTP.

Rank of police officers in neighbourhood policing roles

As part of the ‘Police workforce’ statistical series, information on rank is collected for officers only.

The rank of constable was most common for police officers in the neighbourhood policing function as at 31 March 2026, accounting for 80.2% of all NHP police officers. Sergeant was the next most common at 15.2%, followed by inspector (4.2%) and chief inspector (0.3%). A very small number (0.04%) of police officers in NHP roles were at superintendent level. There were no police officers in the NHP function who were at chief superintendent or chief officer rank.

Table 3.5 shows a similar distribution in the lower ranks between police officers in NHP roles compared with all police officers, although there was a larger representation in the constable rank for the neighbourhood policing function, accounting for 80.2% of NHP police officers compared with 77.2% of all police officers.

Table 3.5: Proportion (%) of FTE police officers in neighbourhood policing compared with total police officers¹, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Rank	Police officers in NHP (%)	Total police officers (%)
Constable	80.2	77.2
Sergeant	15.2	15.5
Inspector	4.2	4.6
Chief inspector	0.3	1.5
Superintendent	0.04	0.7
Chief superintendent	NA	0.2
Chief officer	NA	0.2

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026; workforce open data table and function open data table’

Notes:

1. Neighbourhood police officers exclude those on long-term absence or in training destined for neighbourhood policing roles.
2. Excludes BTP.

4. All functions

Key findings

• the number of police officers working in frontline roles in England and Wales decreased by 1.3% in the 12 months to 31 March 2026, from 117,282 FTE as at 31 March 2025, to 115,764 FTE police officers at 31 March 2026
• the current number of officers in frontline roles is 7,701 FTE lower than the peak of 123,465 FTE recorded in March 2023
• as at 31 March 2026, 90.5% of police officers were employed in frontline roles, this compares with 90.3% of officers as at 31 March 2025; the proportion (at 90.5%) in March 2026 is below the peak in both March 2015 and March 2016 at 93.4%
• as at 31 March 2026, 55,561 FTE police officers were employed in ‘Local policing’ roles, the largest function group (accounting for 43.4% of police officers) followed by 23,676 FTE officers in ‘Investigations’ (18.5% of police officers)

4.1 Introduction

This chapter presents statistics on the number of officers in post by primary function and frontline type, in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. Data in this chapter refers to the situation as at 31 March 2026 and is on a FTE basis.

Statistics presented in this chapter are categorised based on the primary role of police workers, that is, the role in which they spend most of their time. The data may not reflect all the roles an individual fulfils in their job. Further information on the limitations of the data can be found in the accompanying user guide.

Changes to data collection and improvements to data quality

Since 2015 the Home Office has based the functions data on the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Police Objective Analysis (POA) framework, to align with His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) who use the framework’s categories to collect data on police income, expenditure, and funded posts. This change came into effect following an extensive consultation with police forces, HMICFRS and other key stakeholders. The CIPFA POA categories are reviewed annually by the Home Office, HMICFRS and police forces, to ensure that they remain relevant and reflect current policing structures.

Prior to adopting the modernised CIPFA POA framework, between 2012 and 2015 the Home Office reported on functions data using a set of 60 function categories that had remained unchanged during this period. The change of framework means that the police functions data based on the POA framework for 2015 onwards is not directly comparable with data collected under the old framework. Although some functions may appear similar in both frameworks, there are often differences in definitions, and so any attempt to compare across the 2 frameworks should be done with caution.

Under the CIPFA POA framework, officers who are performing numerous duties can only be categorised under one function, based on their primary role, that is, the role in which they spend most of their time. Between 2015 and 2024, functions data in this release were accompanied with a caveat advising users that some forces could not make a clear distinction between certain subfunctions and therefore recorded the majority of, or all, employees under one function. This issue was particularly apparent for the ‘Neighbourhood Policing’ (1a) and ‘Incident (Response) Management’ (1b) functions, where an officer’s duties spanned across both functions. Prior to 2025, the CIPFA guidance stated where an individual’s role is covered by both ‘Neighbourhood Policing’ (1a) and ‘Incident (Response) Management’ (1b) functions and they cannot be clearly identified as one of the POA functions to record the individual under ‘Neighbourhood Policing’ (1a).

Following the announcement by the government of the NPG in December 2024, including a commitment to recruit an additional 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel (utilising ‘Neighbourhood Policing’ (1a) as a method for counting neighbourhood policing personnel), the Home Office launched a data validation exercise. All police forces were asked to verify the previously published workforce data published under the ‘neighbourhood policing’ category for March 2024. This resulted in substantial revisions in some forces, which were published as provisional revisions in the ‘Provisional revision to neighbourhood policing data, at 31 March 2024’ ad-hoc release.

Forces cited several reasons for revising their neighbourhood policing data as at 31 March 2024. These included incorrect categorisation of student officers in neighbourhood policing roles, outdated Human Resource (HR) systems, and incorrectly placing officers in ‘Neighbourhood policing’ (1a) when they would more accurately be aligned with other subfunctions such as ‘Incident (response) management’ (1b), leading to an artificial inflation of the figures. This was also the case for officers in other operational support and investigative functions such as ‘Advanced public order’, ‘Local investigation’ and ‘Uniform operations’. More detailed explanations can be found in the ‘Provisional revision to neighbourhood policing data, at 31 March 2024’ ad-hoc release.

The ‘Provisional revision to neighbourhood policing data’ ad-hoc release set out that the provisional updates were made based on limited management information (MI), and that a full update to the collection would be made as part of the usual Accredited Official Statistics format and was subsequently published as part of the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2025’ statistical series and accompanying functions open data table published in July 2025.

As a result of the data validation exercise, for 31 March 2025 data onwards, the Home Office updated its guidance on how to record functions for students, stating if a student is still in classroom-based training, their function code should be recorded as ‘Other’ as typically they won’t be placed in a role until their training is completed. This change in guidance means data for 2025 onwards is not directly comparable with data collected in previous years.

The careful review of the police functions data, in particular the neighbourhood policing function data and other subfunctions of the ‘Local policing’ category, and clarification on the counting rules of classroom-based students, has improved the quality of functions data for March 2024 onwards. Due to the varied nature of policing roles, there may not always be a clear distinction between some subfunctions, and there is a level of judgement required by HR teams in categorisation.

As only functions data for March 2024 and 2025 have undergone a comprehensive review, functions data prior to March 2024 is not directly comparable with March 2024 onwards.

Counting conventions

Each POA function can be categorised in the ‘frontline policing model’ to either: visible operational frontline, non-visible operational frontline, frontline support and business support. Details of how each subfunction is categorised in the frontline policing model can be found in Table F4 of the accompanying data tables.

When calculating proportions in the functions chapter, using the frontline policing model, individuals recorded under the ‘Other’ function category, ‘National policing’ functions or those with an unknown function code have been excluded. The ‘Other’ category includes police officers long-term absence (such as for maternity or paternity, career break, full-time education, suspension, sickness, compassionate or special leave, and any other long-term leave) and those who are a student still in classroom-based training.

Data sources

Data by PFA, as at 31 March 2026, can be found in the accompanying data tables.

Data on the function of police officers, staff (including section 38 designated officers) and PCSOs, as at 31 March, each year from 2015 onwards, broken down by PFA, worker type, rank, ethnicity, sex, subfunction, wider function and frontline type, can be found in the accompanying functions open data table.

4.2 Frontline policing

As at 31 March 2026, there were 115,764 FTE police officers recorded in frontline policing roles in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, a decrease of 1,518 FTE officers (or 1.3%) compared with the previous year. The number of FTE police officers in frontline policing roles is similar to 31 March 2022 when there 117,132 FTE police officers.

As at 31 March 2026, 90.5% of police officers in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales were recorded in frontline policing roles, compared to 90.3% in the previous year.

Figure 4.1 shows the trend in the number of police officers employed in frontline policing roles as at 31 March, each year from 2010 to 2026. Figures from 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2014 have been estimated and are not directly comparable to data collected after 2014. In addition, figures from 2025 onwards are not directly comparable to data collected in previous years due to updated guidance on how to record functions for students (as outlined in section 4.1). The updated guidance places students still in classroom-based training in the ‘Other’ function as typically they won’t be placed in a role until their training is completed. Those categorised in the ‘Other’ function are excluded from the frontline policing model therefore caution should be taken when making comparisons with previous years due to changes in the data collection.

Figure 4.1 shows that the number of police officers in frontline policing roles peak at 123,465 FTE in March 2023 which saw the highest number of officers in frontline roles on record (comparable recording began in March 2015). The current number of officers in frontline roles, at 115,764 FTE on 31 March 2026, is 7,701 FTE lower (6.2%) than the peak.

Figure 4.1: Number of frontline¹ police officers (FTE), as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2026^2,3, England and Wales⁴

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; table F5A

Notes:

1. Visible operational frontline and non-visible frontline have been added together to give an overall frontline total.
2. Figures for March 2015 onwards have been calculated using HMICFRS’s frontline policing model. Figures for March 2010 to March 2014 have been estimated based on data for a parallel running year (March 2015) where data was collected using both functions frameworks. Further details on these estimates can be found in the user guide.
3. Due to a clarification in guidance on how student officers in classroom-based training should be recorded (that is, classified in the ‘other’ function group), frontline policing data for March 2025 is not directly comparable with previous years. Further detail can be found in section 4.1.
4. Excludes BTP.

Table 4.1 shows the trend in the number of police officers recorded in frontline, frontline support, and business support roles as at 31 March, in each year from 2010 to 2026.

Table 4.1: Number of police officers (FTE) recorded in frontline¹, frontline support and business support roles, as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2026^2,3, England and Wales⁴

As at:	Frontline	Frontline support	Business support
31-Mar-10	123,384	6,499	5,670
31-Mar-11	119,729	6,469	4,912
31-Mar-12	116,122	5,971	4,161
31-Mar-13	113,009	5,215	3,762
31-Mar-14	111,383	4,706	3,309
*	*	*	*
31-Mar-15	110,396	4,315	3,516
31-Mar-16	106,411	4,087	3,401
31-Mar-17	105,571	4,114	3,471
31-Mar-18	103,837	4,348	4,428
31-Mar-19	103,347	4,176	4,645
31-Mar-20	108,856	4,140	4,846
31-Mar-21	113,645	4,677	5,749
31-Mar-22	117,132	5,478	5,989
31-Mar-23	123,465	5,699	6,352
31-Mar-24	121,763	6,009	6,751
*	*	*	*
31-Mar-25	117,282	6,426	6,206
31-Mar-26	115,764	6,173	5,940

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; table F6

Notes:

1. Visible operational frontline and non-visible frontline have been added together to give an overall frontline total.
2. Figures for March 2015 onwards have been calculated using HMICFRS’s frontline policing model. Figures for March 2010 and March 2014 have been estimated based on data for a parallel running year (March 2015) where data was collected using both functions frameworks. Further details on these estimates can be found in the user guide.
3. Due to a clarification in guidance on how student officers in classroom-based training should be recorded (classified in the ‘other’ function group), frontline policing data for March 2025 onwards is not directly comparable with previous years. Further detail can be found in section 4.1.
4. Excludes BTP.

Table 4.2 shows the trend in the proportion of police officers recorded in frontline, frontline support, and business support roles as at 31 March, in each year from 2010 to 2026.

Table 4.2: Proportion (%) of police officers (FTE) recorded in frontline¹, frontline support and business support roles, as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2026^2,3, England and Wales⁴

As at:	Frontline	Frontline support	Business support
31-Mar-10	91.0	4.8	4.2
31-Mar-11	91.3	4.9	3.7
31-Mar-12	92.0	4.7	3.3
31-Mar-13	92.6	4.3	3.1
31-Mar-14	93.3	3.9	2.8
*	*	*	*
31-Mar-15	93.4	3.6	3.0
31-Mar-16	93.4	3.6	3.0
31-Mar-17	93.3	3.6	3.1
31-Mar-18	92.2	3.9	3.9
31-Mar-19	92.1	3.7	4.1
31-Mar-20	92.4	3.5	4.1
31-Mar-21	91.6	3.8	4.6
31-Mar-22	91.1	4.3	4.7
31-Mar-23	91.1	4.2	4.7
31-Mar-24	90.5	4.5	5.0
*	*	*	*
31-Mar-25	90.3	4.9	4.8
31-Mar-26	90.5	4.8	4.6

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; table F6

Notes:

1. Visible operational frontline and non-visible frontline have been added together to give an overall frontline total.
2. Figures for March 2015 onwards have been calculated using HMICFRS’s frontline policing model. Figures for March 2010 and March 2014 have been estimated based on data for a parallel running year (March 2015) where data was collected using both functions frameworks. Further details on these estimates can be found in the user guide.
3. Due to a clarification in guidance on how student officers in classroom-based training should be recorded (classified in the ‘other’ function group), frontline policing data for at March 2025 is not directly comparable with previous years. Further detail can be found in section 4.1.
4. Excludes BTP.

4.3 Changes in function groups

Table 4.3 shows the number and proportion of FTE police officers employed in each function group as at 31 March 2025 and 2026. Proportions exclude officers in ‘National policing’, ‘Other’ functions, or where the function was not stated.

As at 31 March 2026, there were 55,561 FTE police officers employed in ‘Local policing’ roles, a decrease of 2,445 FTE (or 4.2%) officers on the 58,006 in ‘Local policing’ roles as at 31 March 2025. ‘Local policing’ continues to be the largest function group, accounting for 43.4% of all police officers as at 31 March 2026, and 44.6% of officers in the previous year.

There were a further 23,676 FTE police officers in ‘Investigations’ and 15,298 FTE in ‘Public protection’ roles, accounting for 18.5% and 12.0% of police officers respectively, making them the second and third largest function group. The number and proportion of police officers in both ‘Investigations’ and ‘Public protection’ roles has increased compared to the previous year

The ‘Investigative support’, ‘Dealing with the public’ and ‘Criminal Justice arrangement’ function groups had the lowest number and proportion of police officers, accounting for 0.4%, 2.5% and 2.8% of police officers respectively, similar to the previous year.

As outlined in section 4.1, the Home Office has updated its guidance on how to record students in the CIPFA POA functions data, stating if a student is in classroom-based training, their function code should be recorded as ‘Other’, as typically they won’t be placed in a role until their training is completed. The Home Office guidance also states that those on long-term absence should be recorded in the ‘Other’ function group. As at 31 March 2026, the ‘Other’ function group has increased by 1,186 FTE police officers (11.7%), from 10,096 FTE police officers as at 31 March 2025, to 11,282 FTE police officers as at 31 March 2026. We expect that some of this increase can be attributed to the improved recording of student officers in the ‘Other’ function group.

Table 4.3: Number and proportion (%) of FTE police officers, by function group¹, as at 31 March 2025 and 2026, England and Wales²

Function group	Number (FTE) as at 31 March 2025	Proportion (%) as at 31 March 2025	Number (FTE) as at 31 March 2026	Proportion (%) as at 31 March 2025
Local policing	58,006	44.6	55,561	43.4
Investigations	22,777	17.5	23,676	18.5
Public protection	14,788	11.4	15,298	12.0
Operational support	8,970	6.9	8,506	6.7
Support functions	8,557	6.6	8,209	6.4
Intelligence	5,372	4.1	5,155	4.0
Road policing	4,149	3.2	4,143	3.2
Criminal Justice arrangements	3,712	2.9	3,619	2.8
Dealing with the public	3,194	2.5	3,243	2.5
Investigative support	389	0.3	468	0.4
National policing	6,441	[z]	6,658	[z]
Other	10,096	[z]	11,282	[z]
Not stated	-	[z]	69	[z]

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: functions open data table’

Notes:

1. Proportions exclude officers in ‘National policing’, ‘Other’ functions, or where the function was not stated; [z] has been used to indicate where proportions are not applicable.
2. Excludes BTP.

5. Length of service

Key findings

• in the year ending 31 March 2026, 43,525 police officers (headcount) had less than 5 years of service, which accounted for 29.4% of all police officers; breaking this down further, 8,454 officers (5.7%) had less than one year of service, and a further 6,561 (4.4%) had experience of at least one year but less than 2 years
• the number and proportion of officers with less than 5 years of service has been increasing from 14.4% of all police officers in March 2016 (when data collection on length of service began), to 29.4% of all police officers in the latest year

5.1 Introduction

This chapter presents statistics on the length of service of officers in post in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. Data in this chapter refers to the situation as at 31 March 2026 and is on a headcount basis.

Overview

Statistics on length of service are labelled as ‘Official Statistics’ rather than ‘Accredited Official Statistics’ due to a number of data quality issues. Some forces have reported problems extracting length of service data from their HR systems. Where officers have transferred from another force, or changed roles within a force, some constabularies record the length of service based on the date the officer started their current role (rather than the date the officer joined the police service). This is likely to skew the data towards shorter service periods and under-record longer periods of service when individuals have moved posts or forces.

While these issues will have less impact on the national picture, they are likely to have more of an effect on further breakdowns of the data, such as by force or rank of officer. While the findings in this chapter should be considered with caution, they give a reasonable indication of the picture at the national level, but users should be wary of making force comparisons.

Data sources

Data by PFA, as at 31 March 2026, can be found in the accompanying data tables.

Data on the length of service of officers in post, as at 31 March, from 2016 onwards, broken down by PFA and length of service can be found in the accompanying length of service open data table.

5.2 Police officer length of service: as at 31 March 2026

In the 43 forces in England and Wales, the number of officers with less than 5 years’ service, as at 31 March 2026 was 43,525 (headcount), which accounted for 29.4% of all police officers. Breaking this down further, 8,454 officers (5.7%) had less than one year of service, and a further 6,561 officers (4.4%) had experience of at least one year but less than 2 years (Figure 5.1). In comparison to the previous year, as at 31 March 2025, 46,992 officers (headcount) had less than 5 years’ service, which accounted for 31.7% of all police officers; and, of these, 7,452 officers (5.0% of all police officers) had less than one years’ service. As at 31 March 2026, a further 34,849 police officers had between 5 and 10 years, accounting for 23.6% of all police officers; combined, over half (53.0%) of police officers had less than 10 years’ service.

Of all police officers, 9.8% had been in the service between 10 years and less than 15 years, and 12.2% had been in the service between 15 years and less than 20 years.

Only 1,032 officers (headcount) had served for 30 years or more, accounting for 0.7%. This may reflect the fact that police officers in the oldest legacy pension scheme^{[footnote 11]} are still able to draw their pension benefits after 30 years’ service, leading to officers retiring at that point.

Figure 5.1: Length of service of police officers (headcount)¹, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; Table JL5

Notes:

1. Where length of service within the police is not known force’s may have used length of service within the current police force instead.
2. Excludes BTP.

5.3 Police officer length of service: by rank

Figure 5.2 shows length of service of police officers varies by rank; constables have the most diverse length of service profile with all length of service groups represented, although most constables (42,969 or 37.6%) have less than 5 years’ service which reflects that most new joiners enter at this rank. In comparison the proportion of officers with less than 5 years’ service in other ranks is very low and the length of service profile shifts towards longer service in the more senior ranks. For example, the majority of chief officers have more than 25 years’ service (183 or 67.8%), while only 12 (4.4%) have less than 5 years’ service.

As outlined in section 5.1, there are known data quality issues with length of service. Where officers have transferred from another force, or changed roles within a force, some constabularies record the length of service based on the date the officer started their current role (rather than the date the officer joined the police service). In addition, when police officers leave the police service and then rejoin, their length of service is calculated from the date that they rejoined and does not include their previous service. These reasons are likely to skew the data towards shorter service periods and under-record longer periods of service when individuals have moved posts, forces or rejoined the service. Therefore, there may be some senior officers with shorter than expected length of service due to these data quality issues.

Figure 5.2: Length of service of police officers (headcount)^1,2, by rank, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales³

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: length of service open data table’

Notes:

1. Where length of service within the police is not known, forces may have used length of service within the current police force instead.
2. Where police officers leave and rejoin the police force, their length of service is should be calculated from the date that they rejoined.
3. Excludes BTP.

5.4 Police officer length of service: over time

Patterns in the length of service data tend to reflect recruitment trends over time. Relatively low levels of recruitment between the years ending 31 March 2011 and 31 March 2013 meant that the number of officers with between 10 years and less than 15 years’ service were relatively low in recent years (Figure 5.3).

Between 2020 and 2023, coinciding with increased recruitment for the Police Uplift Programme, the number and proportion of officers with fewer than 5 years’ service increased from 35,515 (27.0%) as at 31 March 2020 to 53,774 (36.0%) as at 31 March 2023. In the last 3 years the number and proportion have reduced to 43,525 (29.4%) officers with less than 5 years’ service as at 31 March 2026, although this is still 15.0 percentage points above the proportion in March 2016 (14.4%), when length of service data was first collected.

The accompanying length of service open data table includes more granular breakdowns of individuals with fewer than 5 years’ service with data presented to one-year intervals.

Figure 5.3: Length of service¹ of police officers (headcount)^1,2, as at 31 March 2016 to 2026, England and Wales³

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: length of service open data table’

Notes:

1. Where length of service within the police is not known force’s may have used length of service within the current police force instead.
2. Excludes where length of service information was not provided. As at 31 March 2021, length of service was not stated for 37 officers. As at 31 March 2023, length of service was not stated for 13 officers.
3. Excludes BTP.

6. Joiners

Key findings

• in the year ending 31 March 2026, 8,872 FTE police officers joined the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales (excluding transfers) an increase of 1,017 FTE (or 12.9%) on the previous year when 7,855 FTE officers joined the police service
• the joiner rate (joiners in the financial year as a proportion of police officers as at 31 March 2026) was 6.1%, higher than the previous year when it was 5.4%

6.1 Introduction

This chapter presents statistics on the number of joiners to the police service in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. Data in this chapter refers to joiners in the year ending 31 March 2026 and is on a FTE basis. Further information on the ethnicity and sex of police joiners can be found in chapter 9 and chapter 10.

Overview

Data on joiners is based on the number of workers who joined the police service (or force) during the financial year and is based on FTEs. Joiner rates are calculated by dividing the number of FTE joiners during the financial year by the total number of FTE workers as at the end of the year (31 March). This indicates how many of those employed by the force at the end of the year joined during the year.

There are several routes via which officers can join the police:

• standard direct recruit: individuals joining the police for the first time, including via Direct Entry, Fast Track and Police Now schemes; this also includes those who were PCSOs and other police staff who are joining as a police officer
• re-joining: individuals who have previously left the forces and have since re-joined
• previously special constable: individuals who are joining as a police officer having previously been a special constable
• transfer: individuals joining from one of the other 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, or another non-Home Office force (for example the BTP)

Further information on the routes via which officers join the police can be found in the user guide.

Data sources

Data by PFA, as at 31 March 2026, can be found in the accompanying data tables.

Data on joiners in each financial year, from the year ending March 2007 onwards, broken down by PFA, worker type, rank, sex, ethnicity and joiner type can be found in the accompanying joiners open data table.

Data on joiners to the BTP are excluded from analysis within this chapter and do not count towards the England and Wales total (which relates to the 43 territorial forces only). Data for the BTP can be found in the accompanying data tables and the joiners open data table.

6.2 Police officer joiners

In the year ending 31 March 2026, 8,872 FTE police officers joined the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales (excluding transfers). The volume of joiners was 1,017 FTE above levels seen the previous year (a 12.9% increase) when 7,855 FTE officers joined the police service in the year ending 31 March 2025.

Figure 6.1 shows the trend in police officer joiners (excluding transfers), each year, since the year ending March 2007. Police officer joiners in the latest year were lower than levels seen between April 2019 to March 2023 (which coincided with the Police Uplift Programme), however, were slightly higher than levels seen in the years prior to the start of the Police Uplift Programme.

Figure 6.1: Police officer joiners¹ (FTE), years ending 31 March 2007 to 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: joiners open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes those transferring in from other police forces.
2. Excludes BTP.

Figure 6.2 shows the trend in police officer joiners by route of entry (including transfers), each year, since the year ending March 2007. Between the years ending 31 March 2007 and 2019, the majority (fluctuating between 60% and 80% each year) of police officer joiners were new recruits joining for the first time as standard direct recruits. During the years ending 31 March 2020 to 2023, due to the Police Uplift Programme, there was a higher proportion of recruits as standard direct recruits, at around 85% of officer joiners. Following this period of high recruitment, the proportion of standard direct recruits decreased slightly in the year ending March 2024. In the most recent year, the proportion of standard direct recruits was 84% of all police officer joiners (including transfers).

Figure 6.2: Police officer joiners (FTE), by route of entry, years ending 31 March 2007 to 2026, England and Wales¹

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: joiners open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes BTP.

6.3 Other worker type joiners

Figure 6.3 shows the trend in other worker types joining the police service (excluding transfers), each year, since the year ending March 2007. The number of PCSO joiners fell sharply to the year ending March 2011 and has remained at relatively low levels since, although there has been an 80 FTE (8.7%) increase in the latest year. Excluding transfers, the number of police staff and designated officer joiners decreased by 1,938 FTE (21.1%) in the year ending 31 March 2026 when compared with the previous year. The number of special constable joiners (headcount) has steadily declined in recent years however there was a small increase in special constable joiners in the latest year by 92 (9.4%).

Figure 6.3: Other police worker joiners¹ (FTE), years ending 31 March 2007 to 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: joiners open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes those transferring in from other police forces.
2. Excludes BTP.

7. Leavers

Key findings

• in the year ending 31 March 2026, 9,240 FTE police officers left the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales (excluding transfers), an increase of 445 FTE (or 5.1%) on the previous year when 8,795 FTE officers left the police service
• the leaver rate (leavers in the financial year as a proportion of those at the start of the year), which takes into account the size of the workforce at the start of the year, was 6.3%, compared with 6.0% in the previous year, and 6.6% at the peak in the year ending March 2023
• of police officer leavers in the year ending 31 March 2026, the most common reason for leaving was voluntary resignation (51.4% of leavers)
• the leaver rate for police officer voluntary resignations was 3.2%, the same as the previous year
• in the year ending 31 March 2026, 9,426 police officers left the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales (excluding transfers) in headcount terms, of which 9.0% (846) had less than one years’ service and a further 25.0% (2,357) had between one and less than 5 years’ service
• of police officers leaving via voluntary resignation in the year ending 31 March 2026, 60.6% had less than 5 years’ service and a further 17.2% had between 5 and less than 10 years’ service, the remaining 22.1% of officers that left via voluntary resignation had accumulated 10 years’ service or more

7.1 Introduction

This chapter presents statistics on the number of leavers from the police service (or force) in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, and for police officers only the length of service accumulated within policing at the time of leaving. Data in this chapter refers to leavers in the year ending 31 March 2026 and is on a FTE basis whilst the length of service an individual has accumulated at the time of leaving the service is presented on a headcount basis. Further information on the ethnicity and sex of police leavers can be found in chapter 9 and chapter 10.

Overview: leavers

Data on leavers is based on the number of workers who left the police service (or force) during the financial year and is based on FTEs. Leaver rates are calculated by dividing the number of FTE leavers during the financial year by the total number of FTE workers at the end of the previous year (as at 31 March). This indicates how many of those employed at the start of the current year left during the year.

These leaver rates are a good indication of turnover within the police but are not precise as individual workers cannot be tracked. Some workers may join and leave the force during the same year and will only be captured in the denominator (those employed at the end of the previous year). This is particularly the case for those worker types with higher turnover, such as special constables.

There are several routes via which officers can leave the police:

• death: those who have died, either on active duty or otherwise
• dismissal or contract termination: individuals who have been required to resign, made compulsorily redundant, or have had their contract terminated; while these figures will include dismissals for misconduct, they are not exclusively misconduct cases, as they also include redundancies and contract terminations
• medical retirement: individuals who have retired on ill health grounds
• normal retirement: individuals who have retired, not on ill health grounds
• transfer: individuals leaving to join one of the other 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, or a non-Home Office force (for example, the BTP)
• voluntary resignation: individuals who resign’ special constables, who leave to join the regular constabulary, or have been inactive for more than 12 months, are included here
• voluntary exit schemes: individuals who leave under voluntary exit schemes, voluntary redundancy schemes or voluntary severance

Further information on the routes via which officers leave the police can be found in the user guide.

Overview: length of service of leavers

Data on the length of service of leavers is based on the number of workers who left the police service (or force) during the financial year and is based on headcount therefore figures will differ to the overall leavers figures quoted, which are based on FTEs.

Statistics on the length of service of leavers are labelled as ‘Official Statistics’ rather than ‘Accredited Official Statistics’ due to a number of data quality issues. Some forces have reported problems extracting length of service data from their HR systems. Where officers have transferred from another force, or changed roles within a force, some constabularies record the length of service based on the date the officer started their current role (rather than the date the officer joined the police service). This is likely to skew the data towards shorter service periods and under-record longer periods of service when individuals have moved posts or forces.

While these issues will have less impact on the national picture, they are likely to have more of an effect on further breakdowns of the data, such as by force or rank of officer. While the findings in this chapter on the length of service of leavers should be considered with caution, they give a reasonable indication of the picture at the national level, but users should be wary of making force comparisons.

Changes to the data collection

Up to the year ending 31 March 2023, voluntary resignations included workers who chose to resign or leave under voluntary exit schemes. A voluntary exit scheme is legally a dismissal. Therefore, in the year ending 31 March 2024, voluntary exit schemes were separated out from voluntary resignations. The number of individuals leaving via voluntary exit schemes is low. It’s therefore likely this change will have a minimal impact on comparability of data over time.

Whilst data on length of service of officers in post has been collected since 2016 onwards, length of service accumulated at the time of leaving the service was collected and published for the first time for the year ending 31 March 2024 (for officers only). In the year ending 31 March 2026, the length of service data of police officer leavers was expanded to include the officers’ rank.

Data sources

Data by PFA for the year ending 31 March 2026, can be found in the accompanying data tables.

Data on leavers in each financial year, from the year ending March 2007 onwards, broken down by PFA, worker type, rank, sex, ethnicity and leaver type be found in the accompanying leavers open data table.

Data on length of service accumulated at the time of leaving, for police officers only, can be found in the accompanying length of service open data table, from the year ending March 2024 onwards, broken down by PFA, rank, length of service group and leaver type.

Data on leavers from the BTP are excluded from analysis within this chapter and do not count towards the England and Wales total (which relates to the 43 territorial forces only). Data for the BTP can be found in the accompanying data tables and the leavers open data table. The length of service accumulated at the time of leaving is not published for the BTP.

7.2 Police officer leavers

In the year ending 31 March 2026, 9,240 FTE police officers left the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales (excluding transfers) (Figure 7.1), accounting for 6.3% of officers employed by the forces at the start of the year (Figure 7.2).

Compared with the previous year there was an increase of 5.1% in the number of officers leaving the service (up 445 FTE officers from 8,795 FTE). The leaver rate, which calculates leavers as a proportion of those in post at the start of the year, was 6.3%, this compares with 6.0% in the previous year and 6.6% at the peak in the year ending March 2023. The year ending March 2021 saw a dip in both the number of leavers and the leaver rate, possibly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Figure 7.1: Police officer leavers (excluding transfers)¹, years ending 31 March 2010 to 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: leavers open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes those transferring out to other police forces.
2. Excludes BTP.

Figure 7.2: Police officer leaver rate¹ (excluding transfers)², years ending 31 March 2010 to 2026, England and Wales³

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: leavers open data table’

Notes:

1. Leaver rates are calculated by dividing the total number of leavers (excluding transfers) during the financial year by the total number of workers as at 31 March of the previous year.
2. Excludes those transferring out to other police forces.
3. Excludes BTP.

7.3 Police officer leavers by reason for leaving

The number of officers leaving the police service, in each of the last 6 years, is shown in Table 7.1 by reason for departure.

Table 7.1: Police officer leavers (FTE), by route of exit (where known)¹, years ending 31 March 2021 to 2026, England and Wales²

Year ending 31 March:	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Normal retirement	3,429	4,134	3,956	3,240	3,198	3,487
Voluntary resignation	1,996	3,433	4,575	5,058	4,668	4,751
Medical retirement	357	303	363	335	425	482
Dismissal or contract termination	169	180	222	364	423	459
Death	67	67	73	81	76	60
Voluntary exit scheme3	[x]	[x]	[x]	1	6	-
Total (excluding transfers)	6,018	8,117	9,189	9,080	8,795	9,240
Transfer	1,024	1,186	1,348	1,202	1,155	1,167
Total (including transfers)	7,043	9,303	10,537	10,282	9,950	10,407

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: leavers open data table’

Notes:

1. In the year ending March 2023, there were 3 FTE police officer leavers where the reason for leaving was not stated which have been excluded from the table.
2. Excludes BTP.
3. Voluntary exit schemes were collected in the year ending 31 March 2024 onwards; [x] has been used to indicate where data is not available.

Figure 7.3 shows the proportion of police officer leavers by reason for departure (excluding transfers), each year since the year ending March 2010. Between the year ending March 2010 and March 2020, the majority of officers leaving the service (excluding transfers) did so via normal retirement, which had typically accounted for around 60% to 70% of leavers annually. In more recent years, since the year ending March 2020, there has been a noticeable change in the proportion of officers leaving by other reasons.

The proportion of officers leaving the service via normal retirement has been decreasing since the year ending March 2018, from 63.3% to 35.7% in the year ending 31 March 2024. Since the year ending March 2024 the proportion of normal retirements has increased slightly each year to 37.7% in the year ending 31 March 2026.

The majority of leavers now leave by voluntary resignation, which has increased from 26.6% in the year ending 31 March 2018 to 55.7% in the year ending 31 March 2024. Since the year ending March 2024, the proportion of voluntary resignations has decreased each year to 51.4% in the year ending 31 March 2026.

The number and proportion of dismissals or contract terminations have also increased in recent years, from 169 FTE (2.8% of leavers, excluding transfers) in the year ending 31 March 2021 to 459 FTE (5.0% of leavers, excluding transfers) in the year ending 31 March 2026. The increase in dismissals or contract terminations could be due to a range of factors, including a growing workforce and increased public scrutiny of the police service. These factors are discussed in more depth in the ‘Police misconduct, England and Wales’ statistical series.

Figure 7.3: Police officer leavers¹, by route of exit, years ending 31 March 2010 to 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: leavers open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes those transferring out to other police forces.
2. Excludes BTP.

The police officer leaver rate (leavers in the financial year as a proportion of those in post at the start of the year) was 6.3% in the year ending 31 March 2026 (excluding transfers), compared with 6.0% in the previous year. Police officer leavers rates, in each of the last 6 years, is shown in Table 7.2 by reason for departure.

Excluding transfers, the leaver rate for police officers leaving via voluntary resignations was 3.2% in the year ending 31 March 2026, the same as the previous year.

With the exception of the year ending March 2021 when the leaver rate dropped, thought to be linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, the leaver rate for voluntary resignations has been on a general upward trend since the year ending March 2012, when it was as low as 0.8%. The leaver rate for police officer voluntary resignations in the year ending March 2026 (at 3.2%) is slightly lower than the peak in the year ending 31 March 2024 when it was 3.4%.

Table 7.2: Police officer leaver rates (%)¹, by route of exit (where known)², years ending 31 March 2021 to 2026, England and Wales³

Year ending 31 March:	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Normal retirement	2.7	3.1	2.8	2.2	2.2	2.4
Voluntary resignation	1.5	2.5	3.3	3.4	3.2	3.2
Medical retirement	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.3
Dismissal or contract termination	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3
Death	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.0
Voluntary exit scheme4	[x]	[x]	[x]	0.0	0.0	0.0
Total (excluding transfers)	4.7	6.0	6.6	6.2	6.0	6.3
Transfer	0.8	0.9	1.0	0.8	0.8	0.8
Total (including transfers)	5.5	6.9	7.5	7.0	6.7	7.1

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: leavers open data table’

Notes:

1. Leaver rates are calculated by dividing the total number of leavers (excluding transfers) during the financial year by the total number of workers as at 31 March of the previous year.
2. In the year ending March 2023, there were 3 FTE police officer leavers where the reason for leaving was not stated which have been excluded from the table.
3. Excludes BTP.
4. Voluntary exit schemes were collected in the year ending 31 March 2024 onwards; [x] has been used to indicate where data is not available.

7.4 Length of service of police officer leavers

In the year ending 31 March 2026, 9,426 police officers left the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales (excluding transfers) in headcount terms, of which 25.0% (2,357) had between one and less than 5 years’ service, and a further 9.0% (846) had less than one years’ service (Figure 7.4). In total, 3,203 officers (headcount) leaving the police service in England and Wales in the year ending 31 March 2026 had less than 5 years’ service, accounting for 34.0% of leavers. This is higher than the proportion of officers in post at the start of the year with less than 5 years’ service (31.7% as at 31 March 2025). Further details on the length of service of officers in post can be found in chapter 5. Of police officers that left the police service in the year ending 31 March 2026, 29.4% (2,773) had a length of service of 25 years or more.

Figure 7.4: Length of service of police officer leavers¹, year ending 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; table JL6

Notes:

1. Excludes those transferring out to other police forces.
2. Excludes BTP.

7.5 Length of service of police officer leavers: by reason for leaving

There are differences in the length of service accumulated by reason for leaving the police service (Table 7.3).

In the latest year, of the 3,533 police officers (headcount) leaving the service via normal retirement, over half (53.9% or 1,904 police officer leavers) had accumulated between 20 and 30 less than years’ service and a further 36.1% (1,274) had 30 years’ service or more. This reflects the fact that most police officers are entitled to receive a full pension after 30 years of service. Just 10.0% (355) of police officers leaving via normal retirement had less than 20 years’ service.

Officers leaving via medical retirement also had a longer length of service profile. Of the 494 police officers (headcount) leaving the service due to medical retirement, the majority (91.1%) had 15 years’ service or more whereas just 1.0% had less than 5 years’ service.

In contrast, the majority of the 4,877 police officers (headcount) leaving via voluntary resignation were newer officers with less experience; 2,956 officers (60.6% of all police officer voluntary resignations) had less than 5 years’ service, down from the previous year (3,208 or 66.7% of all police officer voluntary resignations). Breaking this down further, 822 (16.9% of all police officer voluntary resignations) had less than one years’ service and a further 653 (13.4% of all police officer voluntary resignations) had between one year and less than 2 years’ service. The remaining 22.1% of officers leaving via voluntary resignation had accumulated 10 years’ service or more.

Officers leaving due to dismissal or contract termination also tended to have fewer years of service. Of the 461 officers (headcount) leaving via this route, 199 had less than 5 years’ service (43.2% of officers that left via this route), and a further 113 officers (24.5%) had between 5 and less than 10 years’ service. A total of 66 officers that left due to dismissal or contract termination had 20 years’ service or more which accounted for 14.3% of police officers leaving via this route; only 0.7% of officers leaving due to dismissal or contract termination had 30 years’ service or more.

Table 7.3: Length of service of police officer leavers¹, by route of exit², year ending 31 March 2026, England and Wales³

Length of service	Normal retirement	Voluntary resignation	Medical retirement	Dismissal or contract termination	Death	Total (excluding transfers)
Less than 1 year	3	822	1	19	1	-	846
1 year to less than 5 years	26	2,134	4	180	13	2,357
5 years to less than 10 years	47	841	21	113	9	1,031
10 years to less than 15 years	38	295	18	39	3	393
15 years to less than 20 years	241	326	83	44	14	708
20 years to less than 25 years	818	232	211	43	14	1,318
25 years to less than 30 years	1,086	79	141	20	4	1,330
30 years or over	1,274	148	15	3	3	1,443
Total	3,533	4,877	494	461	61	9,426

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; table JL6

Notes:

1. Excludes those transferring out to other police forces.
2. Excludes exit routes with no leavers in the year ending 31 March 2026
3. Excludes BTP.

7.6 Other worker type leavers

Of the other worker types, both PCSOs and special constables saw a decrease in the number of leavers across the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales compared to the previous year (Figure 7.5). The number of PSCO leavers decreased by 68 FTE compared to the previous year, from 1,017 FTE leavers in the year ending 31 March 2025 to 949 FTE leavers in the year ending 31 March 2026. The number of special constable leavers decreased by 124 compared to the previous year, from 1,445 in the year ending 31 March 2025 to 1,321 in the year ending 31 March 2026. Whereas the number of police staff and designated officer leavers increased by 11 FTE compared to the previous year, from 7,601 FTE leavers in the year ending 31 March 2025 to 7,612 FTE leavers in the year ending 31 March 2026.

Figure 7.5: Other police worker leavers¹, years ending 31 March 2010 to 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026; leavers open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes those transferring out to other police forces.
2. Excludes BTP.

In the year ending 31 March 2026 of the paid police worker types, PCSOs had the highest leaver rate (excluding transfers), at 13.0% (Figure 7.6); this is a decrease on the previous year, when the leaver rate for PCSOs was 13.4%. Excluding transfers, police staff and designated officers combined had a leaver rate of 9.3% in the year ending 31 March 2026, compared with a leaver rate of 9.4% in the previous year.

Figure 7.6: Leaver rates¹ by police worker type (excluding transfers)², year ending 31 March 2026, England and Wales³

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: leavers open data table’

Notes:

1. Leavers rates are calculated by dividing the total number of leavers (excluding transfers) during the financial year by the total number of workers as at 31 March of the previous year.
2. Excludes those transferring out to other police forces.
3. Excludes BTP.

8. Promotions

Key findings

• in the year ending 31 March 2026, 2,837 police officers (headcount) received a promotion in 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, a decrease of 23.8% compared to the number of police officer promotions in the year ending 31 March 2025 (3,725)
• of all officers in post at the start of the year, 1.9% received a promotion in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales

8.1 Introduction

This chapter presents statistics on the number of police officer promotions in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. Data in this chapter refers to promotions in the year ending 31 March 2026 and is on a headcount basis. Further information on the ethnicity and sex of police officer promotions can be found in chapter 9 and chapter 10.

Overview

Data on promotions is based on the number of officers promoted during the financial year and is on a headcount basis. Data is collected by the rank to which an officer is promoted. Officers on temporary promotion and those promoted on transfer from another police force are not included.

Promotions rates are calculated by dividing the number of officer promotions during the financial year by the total number of officers (headcount) at the end of the previous year (as at 31 March). This indicates how many of those employed at the start of the current year received a promotion during the year.

Data sources

Data by PFA, for the year ending 31 March 2026, can be found in the accompanying data tables.

Data on officer promotions in each financial year, from the year ending March 2007 onwards, broken down by PFA, rank, sex, and ethnicity can be found in the accompanying promotions open data table.

8.2 Police officer promotions

In the year ending 31 March 2026, 2,837 police officers (headcount) received a promotion in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. This was a decrease of 23.8% in the number of police officer promotions compared with 3,725 promotions in the previous year (Figure 8.1).

The rate of promotions, in the year ending March 2026, saw 1.9% of all officers in post at the start of the year (March 2025) receive a promotion in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. This is a lower rate compared with the previous year ending March 2025, which saw 2.5% of all officers in post at the start of the year (March 2024) receive a promotion.

As in previous years, most promotions were seen at lower ranks, where the volume of workers is greater, such as constables promoted to sergeants (accounting for 60.4% of all promotions), and fewer promotions were seen in higher ranks, such as promotions to chief officer (accounting for just 1.6% of all promotions). This reflects the hierarchical structure of the police workforce, with fewer opportunities for promotion at the top of the pyramid.

Figure 8.1: Police officer promotions (headcount)¹, years ending 31 March 2010 to 2026, England and Wales^2,3

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; Table P2

Notes:

1. Officers on temporary promotion and those promoted on transfer from another police force are not included in these statistics.
2. The years ending 31 March 2018, 2019, and 2020 exclude the MPS, who were unable to provide data. MPS promotions data is therefore shown in blue where available.
3. Excludes BTP.

9. Ethnicity

Key findings

• as at 31 March 2026, there were 12,301 FTE officers from minority ethnic groups (excluding White minorities) in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, making up 8.7% of the workforce (excluding those who did not state their ethnicity), a higher proportion than the previous year
• the proportion of officers identifying as an ethnic minority has been increasing each year since March 2007 (3.9%) to March 2026 (8.7%)
• Black officers made up 1.3% of officers, Asian officers 3.9%, mixed officers 2.7%, and officers from another ethnic group made up 0.8%
• representation of minority ethnic officers (excluding White minorities) was lower among senior ranks (chief inspector or above) compared with constables and other ranks – for example, 6.9% of officers of rank chief inspector or above identified as ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities), compared with 9.2% of constables
• PCSOs were the most ethnically diverse part of the police workforce as at 31 March 2026 (14.3%) followed by special constables (13.1%)

9.1 Introduction

This chapter presents statistics on the diversity of the police workforce, focusing specifically on ethnicity. It presents information on the ethnicity of worker types, and the ethnicity of officers promoted, joining, and leaving the police service. Data in this chapter refers to the situation as at 31 March 2026 and is on a FTE basis.

Overview

Since 2021, data on ethnicity has been collected using the updated Office for National Statistics (ONS) classifications, meaning that Chinese officers are counted in the wider “Asian” ethnic group, prior to March 2021 they had previously been counted under “Chinese and Other”. While this change makes direct comparisons to previous years for the Asian and Other ethnic groups more difficult, as at 31 March 2026 Chinese officers made up just 0.2% of all officers who stated their ethnicity (296 out of 141,643 officers), so the impact of this change is minimal.

Data sources

Data by PFA, as at 31 March 2026, can be found in the accompanying data tables.

Data on the ethnicity of police personnel, as at 31 March each year, from March 2007 onwards, broken down by PFA, worker type, rank, sex and ethnicity can be found in the accompanying ethnicity open data table.

Data on the ethnicity of police personnel employed by the BTP are excluded from analysis within this chapter and do not count towards the England and Wales total (which relates to the 43 territorial forces only). Data for the BTP can be found in the accompanying data tables and the ethnicity open data table.

9.2 Police officers: ethnicity

As at 31 March 2026, there were 12,301 FTE officers who identified as ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities) in the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales, an increase of 211 FTE (1.7%) compared with a year earlier. Officers belonging to a minority ethnic group (excluding White minorities) represented 8.7% of all officers who stated their ethnicity, a slightly higher proportion compared to the previous year (8.5%). Since March 2007 the proportion of officers identifying as an ethnic minority (excluding White minorities) has increased each year to 8.7% in March 2026 (Figure 9.1). This increase is a result of leavers from the police service predominantly identifying as White, and new recruits being from a more diverse background than their predecessors. However, the proportion of officers belonging to a minority ethnic group (excluding White minorities) remains considerably lower than the 18.3% of the general population in England and Wales who identified as such in the 2021 Census^{[footnote 12]}.

Figure 9.1: Proportion of police officers who identified as ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities)¹, as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: ethnicity open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes those who did not state their ethnicity.
2. Excludes BTP.

Of the 43 territorial police forces, the MPS had the most ethnically diverse distribution of officers, with 19.1% identifying as ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities). However, this was below the proportion of people resident in the capital who identified as an ethnic minority (46.3%) according to the 2021 Census.

The second highest proportion of ethnic minority (excluding White minority) officers was in the West Midlands Police, where 15.4% of officers who stated their ethnicity identified themselves as such (compared with 38.6% of the local population). This force was followed by Bedfordshire Police where 10.3% of police officers identified as ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities) compared with 28.0% of the local population. Police forces covering more rural areas (such as Cumbria and North Wales Police) had a less ethnically diverse workforce (around 99% of officers identify as White in these forces) reflecting their resident population within those areas. Table D2 of the accompanying data tables provides the proportion of FTE ethnic minority (excluding White minority) police officers compared to the proportion of ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities) in the local population, by PFA.

As in previous years, levels of under-representation were higher among senior ranks (chief inspector or above) compared with constables and other ranks. For example, 6.9% of officers of rank chief inspector or above identified as belonging to a minority ethnic group (excluding White minorities), compared with 9.2% of constables (Figure 9.2). This likely reflects a more ethnically diverse cohort of joiners in recent years, many of whom will have joined at constable rank.

Figure 9.2: Proportion of police officers who identified as ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities)¹, by rank, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: ethnicity open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes those who did not state their ethnicity.
2. Excludes BTP.

Of the 12,301 FTE officers identifying as ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities), 5,553 (3.9%) identified as Asian or Asian British, 3,848 (2.7%) as mixed, 1,817 (1.3%) as Black or Black British, and 1,084 (0.8%) as belonging to the “other” ethnic group.

9.3 Police officer functions: ethnicity

Each individual police function is categorised into a broader group, such as local policing, road policing and national policing, for example, according to the POA framework outlined in section 4.1 and available in Table F4 of the accompanying data tables.

Within these groups, data is collected on the ethnicity of the officer and proportions in this section are calculated by excluding cases where the ethnicity of the officer was not stated.

Some function groups were more ethnically diverse than others (Figure 9.3); 4.4% of officers working in ‘Road policing’ identified as an ethnic minority (excluding White minorities), making it the least ethnically diverse function group. ‘National policing’ was the most ethnically diverse function group, where 11.9% of officers identified as an ethnic minority (excluding White minorities). Figure 9.3 shows the ethnic split across each policing function group.

Figure 9.3: Proportion of police officers, by ethnic group¹ and function², as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales³

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; Table F7

Notes:

1. Proportions exclude cases where the ethnicity of the officer is not stated.
2. Excludes those with a function of ‘Other’. The ‘Other’ category includes police officers on long-term leave (such as for maternity or paternity, career break, full-time education, suspension, sickness, compassionate or special leave, and any other long-term leave) and those who are a student still in classroom-based training.
3. Excludes BTP.

9.4 Police officer promotions: ethnicity

Of the 2,837 police officers (headcount) promoted in the year ending March 2026, 2,742 (96.7%) indicated their ethnicity. Of these, 178, or 6.5%, identified themselves as belonging to a minority ethnic group (excluding White minorities). In comparison, in the year ending March 2025, 304 officers identifying from a minority ethnic group (excluding White minorities) were promoted, accounting for 8.4% of all promoted officers (Figure 9.4).

Figure 9.4: Proportion of promotions where the officer promoted identified as minority ethnic (excluding White minorities)¹, years ending 31 March 2010 to 2026, England and Wales (excluding MPS)^2,3

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: promotions open data table’

Notes:

1. Data is on a headcount basis and excludes cases where the ethnicity of the officer promoted is not stated.
2. Excludes the MPS for the years ending 31 March 2018, 2019, and 2020 who were unable to provide data following the implementation of a new HR system in 2018. Data for all forces has been available since the year ending March 2021.
3. Excludes BTP.

9.5 Police officer joiners: ethnicity

Excluding transfers, 8,872 FTE police officers joined the 43 police forces in England and Wales in the year ending March 2026, and 8,636 (97.3%) stated their ethnicity. Of these, 932 or 10.8% identified themselves as ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities), an increase on the previous year (10.1%).

The police forces with the largest proportion of joiners (excluding transfers) identifying as ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities), were the MPS (35.2%), West Midlands (23.2%), West Yorkshire (18.0%) and Northamptonshire (16.0%). Greater Manchester Police also had a more ethnically diverse cohort of joiners than other forces, where 14.1% of new joiners identified as belonging to an ethnic minority (excluding White minority). Table D3 of the accompanying data tables provides the proportion of FTE ethnic minority (excluding White minority) police officer joiners, by PFA.

9.6 Police officer leavers: ethnicity

In the year ending March 2026, excluding transfers, 9,011 (97.5%) of the 9,240 FTE officers who left the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales stated their ethnicity. Of these, 819, or 9.1%, identified as ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities), up from 790 FTE in the year ending March 2025 but this is a decrease in the proportion of leavers identifying as an ethnic minority (excluding White minorities) (9.3%).

There was a higher rate of normal retirements amongst White officers, which likely reflects the differing age profiles of different ethnic groups within the police service. For example, due to historically low levels of ethnically diverse recruitment, older officers were more likely to be White, meaning fewer officers from minority ethnic groups are likely to have yet reached retirement age. Rates of voluntary resignations and dismissals (which also included cases where a contract was terminated for reasons other than misconduct) were higher amongst officers who identified as ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities) than White officers (Figure 9.5).

Figure 9.5: Number of officers leaving by each exit route¹ per thousand officers², by ethnicity³, year ending 31 March 2026 England and Wales⁴

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: leavers open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes exit routes with no leavers in the year ending 31 March 2026.
2. Leavers per 1,000 officers is calculated as the number of officers leaving via that route in the latest year, as a proportion of total officers, by ethnic group, per thousand officers.
3. Excludes cases where the ethnicity of the leaving officer is not stated.
4. Excludes BTP.

9.7 Police staff, designated officers, PCSOs, special constables, and police support volunteers: ethnicity

The proportion of workers in other areas of the workforce belonging to a minority ethnic group (excluding White minorities) was higher than for police officers (Figure 9.6). PCSOs were the most ethnically diverse part of the police workforce as at 31 March 2026, with 1,005 of the 7,016 FTE PCSOs who stated their ethnicity identifying as ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities). PCSOs identifying as ethnic minorities accounted for 14.3% compared with 18.3% of the resident population. This was followed by the special constabulary with 13.1% of special constables identifying as ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities).

Figure 9.6: Ethnic breakdown of the police workforce¹, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: ethnicity open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes those who did not state their ethnicity.
2. Excludes BTP.

10. Sex

Key findings

• as at 31 March 2026, there were 53,712 FTE female police officers in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, making up 36.8% of police officers where sex was known
• as at 31 March 2026, 36.8% of officers were female, compared with 36.1% in the previous year
• this represents the highest number and proportion of female officers since comparable records began in March 2003
• females made up 63.1% of FTE police staff and designated officers and 46.9% of FTE PCSOs
• the proportion of females in the special constabulary was the lowest across all worker types, with 25.3% of special constables (headcount) being female

10.1 Introduction

This chapter presents statistics on the diversity of the police workforce, focusing specifically on the sex^{[footnote 13]} of police personnel in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. This chapter presents information on the sex of worker types, and the sex of officers promoted, joining and leaving the police service. Data in this chapter refers to the situation as at 31 March 2026 and is on a FTE basis.

Data sources

Data by PFA, as at 31 March 2026, can be found in the accompanying data tables.

Data on the sex of police personnel, as at 31 March each year, from March 2007 onwards, broken down by PFA, worker type, rank and sex can be found in the accompanying police workforce open data table.

Data on the sex of police personnel employed by the BTP are excluded from analysis within this chapter and do not count towards the England and Wales total (which relates to the 43 territorial forces only). Data for the BTP can be found in the accompanying data tables and the workforce open data table.

10.2 Police officers: sex

There were 53,712 FTE female police officers in the 43 territorial police forces on 31 March 2026, making up 36.8% of police officers in England and Wales, compared with 36.1% in the previous year (Figure 10.1). The number of female officers increased by 869 FTE (1.6%) compared with a year earlier.

Figure 10.1: Proportion of female police officers¹, as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: workforce open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes cases where the sex of the officer is not stated.
2. Excludes BTP.

Of the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, North Wales had the highest proportion of female police officers (43.6%), followed by Cumbria (43.2%). The City of London Police had the smallest proportion of female officers (25.8%) followed by the MPS (32.3%), and Dorset Police (34.1%).

Figure 10.2 shows the proportion of female police officers in each rank, in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, on 31 March 2026.

Figure 10.2: Proportion of female police officers¹, by rank, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: workforce open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes cases where the sex of the officer is not stated.
2. Excludes BTP.

10.3 Police officer promotions: sex

Of the 2,837 police officers (headcount) promoted in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales in the year ending March 2026, 1,069 were female, which accounted for 37.7% of all officers promoted. The proportion of female officers promoted is an increase compared to the year ending March 2025, but the number of female officers promoted is a decrease (1,329 females accounting for 35.7% of promotions) reflecting the overall decline in officer promotions.

10.4 Police officer joiners and leavers: sex

Excluding transfers, of the 8,872 FTE police officers that joined the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales in the year to March 2026, 44.1% (3,913 FTE) identified as female, this compares to a peak of 44.2% (3,474 FTE) of joiners in the previous year, and is therefore the second highest proportion of female police officer joiners in a financial year on record. Between the year ending March 2010 and the year ending March 2020 the proportion of female joiners varied between 30% and 37%.

The proportion of female officers joiners in the year ending 31 March 2026 (44.1%) was higher than the proportion of officers that were female as at 31 March 2026 (36.8%). This contributes to the rising trend in the proportion of officers that are female.

Of the 9,238 FTE officer leavers that stated their sex (excluding transfers) during the year to March 2026, 2,931 or 31.7% were female, compared with 32.1% in the previous year. Most female officers left either via voluntary resignation (60.9% of all female leavers excluding transfers, compared with 47.0% of all male leavers) or normal retirements (29.4% of all female leavers excluding transfers, compared with 41.6% of all male leavers in the year ending March 2026).

10.5 Police staff, designated officers, PCSOs, special constables, and police support volunteers: sex

As at 31 March 2026, females made up 63.1% of FTE police staff and designated officers in the 43 forces in England and Wales (Figure 10.3), the highest proportion since comparable records began. Females accounted for 46.9% of FTE PCSOs a slight decrease compared to the previous year (47.0%). The proportion of females in the special constabulary continues to be the lowest across all worker types, with 25.3% of special constables (headcount) being female.

Figure 10.3: Police workforce by sex¹, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: workforce open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes cases where the sex of the officer is not stated.
2. Excludes BTP.

11. Age

Key findings

• as at 31 March 2026, most police officers were aged 26 to 40 (45.5% of police officers who stated their age), this was closely followed by those aged 41 to 55 (39.4% of police officers who stated their age)
• a further 12.6% of police officers who stated their age were aged 25 and under and 2.5% were aged 56 and over
• PCSOs and police staff (including designated officers) tended to be older than other worker types, with 19.3% of PCSOs and 25.6% of staff and designated officers aged 56 and over, compared with 2.5% of officers

11.1 Introduction

This chapter presents statistics on the diversity of the police workforce, focusing specifically on age of police workers in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. Data in this chapter refers to the age of police workforce as at 31 March 2026 and is on a headcount basis.

Data sources

Data by police force area, as at 31 March 2026, can be found in the accompanying data tables.

Data on the age of police personnel, as at 31 March each year, from March 2007 onwards, broken down by PFA, worker type, rank and age group can be found in the accompanying age open data table.

Data on the age of police personnel employed by the BTP are excluded from analysis within this chapter and do not count towards the England and Wales total (which relates to the 43 territorial forces only). Data for the BTP can be found in the accompanying data tables and the age open data table.

11.2 Police officers: age

As at 31 March 2026, most police officers were aged 26 to 40 (45.5% of police officers who stated their age), this was closely followed by those aged 41 to 55 (39.4% of police officers who stated their age). A further 12.6% of police officers who stated their age were aged 25 and under and 2.5% were aged 56 and over. The age profile is similar to the previous year when 45.5% of police officers were aged 26 to 40, 39.6% were aged 41 to 55, 12.6% were aged 25 and under, and 2.4% were aged 56 and over.

As might be expected, the age profile varies by rank, with a large proportion of older officers in more senior ranks; for example, while just 6 FTE chief officers (2.2%) were aged 26 to 40, over half (50.5%) of constables were in this age group (Figure 11.1).

Figure 11.1: Age breakdown¹ of police officers, by rank, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: data tables’; Table D5

Notes:

1. Excludes cases where the age of the officer is not stated.
2. Excludes BTP.

Compared to March 2013 there has been an increase in the proportion of police officers aged 25 and under and 56 and over while the proportion of those aged 26 to 55 has declined. This could reflect the increase in new younger officers joining the police service, and older officers choosing to stay in the police service longer.

11.3 Police staff, PCSOs, designated officers and special constables: age

Figure 11.2 shows the variation in the age profile of the police workforce. As at 31 March 2026, PCSOs and police staff tend to be older than other worker types, with 19.3% of PCSOs and 25.6% of staff and designated officers aged 56 and over, compared with 2.5% of officers. In contrast, the special constabulary had a younger profile than the paid ranks, with 19.5% of special constables aged 25 and under compared with 12.6% of police officers.

Figure 11.2: Age breakdown of police workers¹, by worker type, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: age open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes cases where the age of the worker is not stated.
2. Excludes BTP.

12. Long term absence

Key findings

• as at 31 March 2026, there were 6,670 FTE police officers on long-term absence in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales (equivalent to 4.6% of all officers, compared with 4.3% as at 31 March 2025)
• of these, 3,358 FTE police officers were on long-term sick leave, which is equivalent to 2.3% of police officers in England and Wales, compared with 2.2% of officers in the previous year
• as at 31 March 2026, there were 3,274 FTE police staff (including designated officers) on long-term absence in the 43 forces in England and Wales (equivalent to 4.0% of all staff, compared with 3.7% in the previous year)
• of these, 1,766 FTE staff were on long-term sick leave, which is equivalent to 2.2% of staff in England and Wales, compared with 1.9% in the previous year
• as at 31 March 2026, there were 294 FTE PCSOs on long-term absence in the 43 forces in England and Wales (equivalent to 4.0% of all PCSOs, compared with 4.5% in the previous year
• of these, 184 FTE PCSOs were on long-term sick leave, which is equivalent to 2.5% of PCSOs in England and Wales – the same as the previous year

12.1 Introduction

This chapter presents statistics on the number of police workers on long-term absence, by reason for absence, in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. Data in this chapter refers to those on long-term absence as at 31 March of each year and is on a FTE basis.

Overview

Long-term absence is any absence that has lasted for more than 28 calendar days, as at the end of the reporting period (31 March). Reasons for absence include career break, compassionate leave, maternity or paternity leave, sick leave, special leave, study leave, and suspension. Long-term sickness includes any recognised medical condition, physical or psychological, as reported by the officer or a medical practitioner, which has lasted for more than 28 calendar days.

The completeness of the data often relies on managers and HR professionals recording all cases on the system, and the accuracy can be affected if cases are not logged or closed promptly. Data on absences and sickness throughout the year is not collected, so seasonal illnesses from other times of the year are excluded. Further information about the limitations of the data can be found in the accompanying user guide.

Data sources

Data by PFA, as at 31 March 2026, can be found in the accompanying data tables.

Data on police workers on long-term absence each year, as at 31 March, from 2007 onwards, broken down by PFA, worker type, rank, sex and absence type can be found in the accompanying absence open data table. Data for police officers has been collected since 2007 whilst data on other worker types (including police staff, designated officers and PCSOs) was published as at 31 March 2024 for the first time.

Data on police personnel employed by the BTP on long-term absence are excluded from analysis within this chapter and do not count towards the England and Wales total (which relates to the 43 territorial forces only). Data for the BTP can be found in the accompanying data tables and the absence open data table.

12.2 Police officers on long-term absence

As at 31 March 2026, there were 6,670 FTE officers on long-term absence (for all reasons) in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. This equates to 4.6% of all officers in post, compared with 4.3% of all officers as at 31 March 2025.

Figure 12.1 shows of FTE police officers on long-term absence, 3,358 (50.3%) were on sick leave, 1,806 (27.1%) were on maternity or paternity leave, 738 (11.1%) were on career breaks, and 749 (11.2%) were suspended. The remaining 20 (0.3%) were on ‘other leave’ (which includes compassionate leave, study leave, and special leave).

Figure 12.1: Number of officers (FTE) on long-term absence¹ broken down by absence type^2,3 and sex, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales⁴

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: absence open data table’

Notes:

1. To be classed as long-term, an officer must be absent for more than 28 calendar days.
2. Data labels refer to the total number of FTE officers (males and females combined) on long term absence, for each absence type.
3. ‘Other leave’ includes compassionate leave, study leave, and special leave.
4. Excludes BTP.

Although females accounted for 36.8% of police officers in England and Wales as at 31 March 2026, they accounted for 56.0% of all long-term absentees. However, excluding maternity or paternity leave, females accounted for 40.3% of all long-term absentees. Although females accounted for a disproportionate amount of many absence types (relative to the breakdown of police officers by sex), maternity or paternity leave (98.4%), and career breaks (52.2%) were the 2 categories in which females accounted for the majority of absences (Table 12.1).

Table 12.1: Proportion of long-term absence by sex, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales¹

Absence type	Proportion (%) female	Proportion (%) male
Sickness	44.3	55.7
Maternity or Paternity	98.4	1.6
Career break	52.2	47.8
Suspended	11.0	89.0
Other2	30.0	70.0
All long-term absence (excluding maternity and paternity)	40.3	59.7
All long-term absence	56.0	44.0
All police officers	36.8	63.2

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: absence open data table’ and Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: workforce open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes BTP.
2. ‘Other’ leave includes compassionate leave, study leave and special leave.

12.3 Other worker types on long-term absence

Data on other worker types (including staff, designated officers and PCSOs) on long-term absence was published for the first time as at 31 March 2024.

Police staff including designated officers

As at 31 March 2026, there were 3,274 FTE police staff (including designated officers) on long-term absence (for all reasons) in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. This equates to 4.0% of all staff in post, and compared to a figure of 3.7% in the previous year.

Figure 12.2 shows that of FTE staff on long-term absence, 1,766 (53.9%) were on sick leave, 1,148 (35.0%) were on maternity or paternity leave, 200 (6.1%) were on career breaks, and 136 (4.1%) were suspended. The remaining 25 (0.8%) were on ‘other leave’ (which includes compassionate leave, study leave, and special leave).

Figure 12.2: Number of staff (FTE) on long-term absence¹ broken down by absence type^2,3 and sex, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales⁴

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: absence open data table’

Notes:

1. To be classed as long-term, an officer must be absent for more than 28 calendar days.
2. Data labels refer to the total number of FTE officers (males and females combined) on long term absence, for each absence type.
3. ‘Other leave’ includes compassionate leave, study leave, and special leave.
4. Excludes BTP.

PCSOs

As at 31 March 2026, there were 294 FTE PCSOs on long-term absence (for all reasons) in the 43 forces in England and Wales. This equates to 4.0% of all PCSOs in post, and compares with 4.5% in the previous year.

Figure 12.3 shows that of FTE PCSOs on long-term absence, 184 (62.5%) were on sick leave, 70 (23.7%) were on maternity or paternity leave, 26 (8.9%) were suspended, and 14 (4.7%) were on career breaks. The remaining 1 (0.3%) was on ‘other leave’ (which includes compassionate leave, study leave and special leave).

Figure 12.3: Number of PCSOs (FTE) on long-term absence¹ broken down by absence type^2,3 and sex, as at 31 March 2026, England and Wales⁴

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: absence open data table’

Notes:

1. To be classed as long-term, an officer must be absent for more than 28 calendar days.
2. Data labels refer to the total number of FTE officers (males and females combined) on long term absence, for each absence type.
3. ‘Other leave’ includes compassionate leave, study leave, and special leave.
4. Excludes BTP.

12.4 Police officers on long-term sickness

Long-term sickness includes any recognised medical condition, physical or psychological, as reported by the officer or a medical practitioner, which has lasted for more than 28 calendar days.

As at 31 March 2026, there were 3,358 FTE police officers on long-term sick leave in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, equating to 2.3% of police officers. The equivalent figure in the previous year was 2.2%.

Figure 12.4: Number of officers (FTE) on long-term sick leave¹, as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2026, England and Wales²

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: absence open data table’

Notes:

1. In order for sickness to be classed as long-term, an officer must be absent for more than 28 calendar days.
2. Excludes BTP.

12.5 Police officers on long-term sickness: by rank

There was some variation in sickness levels across ranks, with officers at higher ranks generally having lower levels of sickness; 2.4% of constables were on long-term sick leave, compared with 1.4% of officers of superintendent rank or above. Sickness levels for constables, sergeants and inspectors are higher compared to the previous year, while rates for chief inspectors and above are slightly below the previous year (Table 12.2).

Table 12.2: Proportion (%) of officers (FTE) on long-term sick leave, by rank, as at 31 March 2025 and 2026, England and Wales¹

Rank	2025	2026
Constable	2.2	2.4
Sergeant	2.0	2.3
Inspector	1.8	2.0
Chief inspector	1.8	1.6
Superintendent or above	1.5	1.4

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: absence open data table’ and Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: workforce open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes BTP.

12.6 Police officers on long-term sickness: by sex

Sickness rates have been consistently higher among females than males, with 2.8% of female officers on long-term sick leave compared with 2.0% of male officers as at 31 March 2026.

Table 12.3: Proportion (%) of officers (FTE) on long-term sick leave, by sex¹, as at 31 March 2015 to 2026, England and Wales²

As at:	Proportion (%) of female officers on sick leave	Proportion (%) of male officers on sick leave
31-Mar-15	2.4	1.4
31-Mar-16	2.5	1.7
31-Mar-17	2.5	1.7
31-Mar-18	2.5	1.7
31-Mar-19	2.4	1.7
31-Mar-20	2.6	1.7
31-Mar-21	1.7	1.3
31-Mar-22	2.0	1.6
31-Mar-23	2.1	1.5
31-Mar-24	2.4	1.9
31-Mar-25	2.6	1.9
31-Mar-26	2.8	2.0

Source: Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: absence open data table’ and Home Office, ‘Police workforce, England and Wales, 31 March 2026: workforce open data table’

Notes:

1. Excludes police officers that did not state their sex.
2. Excludes BTP.

12.7 Other worker types on long-term sickness

As at 31 March 2026, there were 1,766 FTE police staff (including designated officers) and 184 FTE PCSOs on long-term sick leave in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, equating to 2.2% of staff and 2.5% of PCSOs respectively.

13. Limited duties

Key findings

• as at 31 March 2026, there were 5,322 police officers (headcount) on recuperative duties, equivalent to 3.6% of all police officers
• as at 31 March 2026, there were 11,218 police officers (headcount) on adjusted duties, equivalent to 7.6% of all police officers
• as at 31 March 2026 there were 573 police officers (headcount) on both recuperative and adjusted duties, equivalent to 0.4% of all police officers

13.1 Introduction

This chapter provides information on the number of police officers on recuperative and adjusted duties, by sex, in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. Data is this chapter is a snapshot as at 31 March 2026 and is presented on a headcount basis.

Overview

Definitions of recuperative and adjusted duties are provided below.

Recuperative duty: Duties falling short of full deployment, undertaken by a police officer following an injury, accident, illness, or medical incident, during which the officer adapts to and prepares for a return to full duties and the full hours for which they are paid, and is assessed to determine whether he or she is capable of making such a return.

Adjusted duty: Duties falling short of full deployment, in respect of which workplace adjustments (including reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010) have been made to overcome barriers to working. For an officer to be placed on adjusted duties, they must be attending work on a regular basis and be working for the full number of hours for which they are paid (in either a full time or part time substantive role).

The way in which forces interpret the definition of recuperative and adjusted duties can vary; this may affect the consistency of the figures over time and between forces depending on when and who makes this judgement. The accuracy of recuperative and adjusted duties data depends on how accurately forces record and maintain this information on their HR systems. Forces may not keep records up to date, particularly for recuperative duties, which tend to be short-term measure.

In 2026 all forces were able to provide data for police officers on recuperative or adjusted duties; whereas in the previous year only 41 forces were able to provide data for police officers on recuperative duties and 42 forces were able to provide data for police officers on adjusted duties. Therefore, there may be an artificial increase in police officers on limited duties due to improved recording of this data. Comparisons between years and forces should be made with caution.

Further information about the limitations of the data can be found in the accompanying user guide.

Changes to the data collection

In the ‘as at 31 March 2025’ release the Home Office expanded the data collection to include instances where officers are on both recuperative and adjusted duties at the same time to allow for a more complete picture. In previous years forces have provided information on the number of officers on recuperative duties or adjusted duties and the collection did not allow for reporting individuals who were on both forms of limited duties at the same time. In previous years the data may have been an undercount of either the total number of officers on limited duties, or an undercount by type of limited duty as the collection omitted individuals on both recuperative and adjusted duties. Previously forces may have omitted these individuals from the data collection or recorded the individuals under one type of limited duty only.

Data sources

Data by PFA, as at 31 March 2026, can be found in the accompanying data tables.

Data on police officers on recuperative and adjusted duties each year, as at 31 March, from 2015 onwards, broken down by PFA and sex can be found in the accompanying limited duties open data table.

13.2 Police officers on recuperative and adjusted duties

As at 31 March 2026, there were:

• 5,322 police officers (headcount) on recuperative duties, equivalent to 3.6% of officers
• 11,218 police officers (headcount) on adjusted duties, equivalent to 7.6% of officers
• 573 police officers (headcount) on both recuperative and adjusted duties, equivalent to 0.4% of officers

Of female officers in England and Wales, 4.5% were on recuperative duties and 9.8% were on adjusted duties as at 31 March 2026. This was higher than the proportion of males on recuperative duties and adjusted duties, which were 3.0% and 6.3% respectively.

Annex A: Additional analysis of police officer numbers by protected characteristics

Introduction

National Standards for police workforce data draw on existing harmonised standards set out by the Government Statistical Service and aim to bring more standardisation within policing for the collection of data on protected characteristics (and some other demographic information). The variables in the Home Office’s data collection currently covered by the Standards are ethnicity, age, religion or belief, disability, sexual orientation, gender, sex, and gender reassignment. A full breakdown of the standards can be found in the user guide.

Information on protected characteristics is usually self-reported by officers on police force HR systems. Some officers may not have updated their HR records, or chosen not to declare their characteristics, as such the data contains unknown values. This annex includes information on the proportion of officers broken down by disability status, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs. Whilst relatively high proportions of officers had not recorded, or preferred not to declare, their disability status, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs (32.2%, 30.0% and 28.5% respectively as at 31 March 2026) the proportion of unknowns has declined in recent years as more officers’ self-report their characteristics.

Disability

As at 31 March 2026, of police officers (headcount) where the disability status was known, 11.3% declared they were disabled. The proportion of police officers with a disability is lower than the proportion in the general population; according to the ONS 2021 Census 17.8% of the population in England and Wales are disabled.

Table A1: Police officers by disability status, England and Wales, as at 31 March 2026

	% of all officers (headcount)
Known	67.8
of which: Yes	11.3
of which: No	88.7
Prefer not to say	3.1
Unknown	29.1

Sexual orientation

As at 31 March 2026, of police officers (headcount) where sexual orientation was known, 91.3% declared they were heterosexual or straight, 5.0% declared they were gay or lesbian, and 3.5% declared they were bisexual. The proportion of police officers that declared a sexual orientation of heterosexual or straight was lower than in the general population whilst the proportion of police officers that declared a sexual orientation other than heterosexual or straight was higher than in the general population. According to the ONS 2021 Census (excluding individuals who did not respond) 96.6% respondents in England and Wales declared they are heterosexual or straight, 1.7% as gay or lesbian and 1.4% as bisexual.

Table A2: Police officers by sexual orientation, England and Wales, as at 31 March 2026

	%of all officers (headcount)
Known	70.0
of which: Heterosexual or straight	91.3
of which: Gay or lesbian	5.0
of which: Bisexual	3.5
of which: Other sexual orientation	0.2
Prefer not to say	5.7
Unknown	24.3

Religious beliefs

As at 31 March 2026, of police officers (headcount) where their religious belief was known, 52.7% declared they had no religion – higher than the proportion in the general population; according to the ONS 2021 Census 39.6% of the population in England and Wales have no religion. A further 40.1% of officers declared they were Christian – lower than the proportion in the general population; according to the ONS 2021 Census 49.1% of the population in England and Wales are Christian.

Table A3: Police officers by religious beliefs, England and Wales, as at 31 March 2026

	% of all officers (headcount)
Known	71.5
of which: Christian	40.1
of which: Muslim	2.7
of which: Sikh	0.7
of which: Hindu	0.4
of which: Buddhist	0.3
of which: Jewish	0.3
of which: Pagan	0.2
of which: Any other religion or belief	2.7
of which: No religion	52.7
Prefer not to say	5.3
Unknown	23.2

1. Designated officers are police staff (who are not police officers) employed to exercise specific powers that would otherwise only be available to police officers. Some forces are unable to distinguish designated officers from police staff, therefore, they have been combined to better reflect the situation across all forces. These workers can be separately identified in the open data tables. ↩

2. Individuals who by choice put their time, experience, knowledge and skills at the disposal of the force without expectation of compensation or financial rewards, except for the payment of pre-determined out of pocket expenses. ↩

3. The paid workforce, as at 31 March 2026, includes police officers, staff, designated officers and PCSOs. Figures as at 31 March 2026 exclude traffic wardens which are no longer employed by police forces. Traffic wardens were employed by police forces up to the year ending March 2020. The comparator figure for the paid police workforce, as at 31 March 2010, includes traffic wardens. Prior to year ending March 2020 there were small numbers of traffic wardens employed by the police service reflecting the dominant role of local authorities in parking control. ↩

4. NCA officers include both those warranted with the powers of a police constable or other powers, as well as civilians involved in the investigation of serious and organised crime (non-warranted officers). ↩

5. Secondments to central services are secondments to central government, for example, the Home Office, HMICFRS, or the NCA. ↩

6. Population rates are calculated based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) mid-2024 population estimates for England and Wales. ↩

7. NCA officers include both those warranted with the powers of a police constable or other powers, as well as civilians involved in the investigation of serious and organised crime (non-warranted officers). ↩

8. Secondments to central services are secondments to central government, for example, the Home Office, HMICFRS, or the NCA. ↩

9. The total year one target has been updated from 2,972 FTE to 3,011 FTE. Following publication of force delivery plans in April 2025, adjustments were made by forces to account for revised recruitment and operational deployment plans. More information can be found in section 3.2. ↩

10. Officers on long-term absence, that is they have been absent for more than 28 calendar days, are given a function code of ‘Other’ and therefore not counted towards growth, in line with reporting of all functions data in the ‘Police Workforce’ statistical series. ↩

11. The 2015 Police Pension Scheme came into effect on 1 April 2015 and applies to all active members of police forces in England and Wales. It replaced earlier schemes (1987 and 2006) for new entrants and, as of 1 April 2022, is the only scheme that police officers can build up pension in. However, alongside pension reform, there were protections for officers’ pensions already accrued in one of the legacy schemes. ↩

12. Population data from the 2021 Census, based on whole population. Data is available on the ONS website. ↩

13. Where the sex of an individual is not stated but the gender was, gender has been used. ↩