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User Guide to Police Workforce Statistics

Last updated: July 2019

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Contents

Page

1 Introduction............................................................................................................. ... 3

2 Data Quality............................................................................................................. ... 5

3 User Engagement ................................................................................................... ... 12

4 Glossary ..................................................................................................................... 14

5 Conventions used in police workforce statistics .................................................. 16

6 Police officers ............................................................................................................ 17

7 Police community support officers and other designated officers .................... 18

8 Other police staff and special constables .............................................................. 19

9 Joiners and leavers ................................................................................................... 20

Annex A: Functions frameworks and frontline definitions .......... …………………………… 21

Annex B: Key stages in the production of the statistical release ...................................... 25

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1 Introduction

This user guide is designed to be a useful reference guide with explanatory notes on the issues and classifications

that are key to the production and presentation of the Home Office’s annual statistical release Police workforce,

England and Wales.

Area Content Publication frequency

Coverage

Workforce numbers

- Total number of officers, staff, PCSOs, designated officers, special constables and police support volunteers, as at 31 March and 30 September each year, full time equivalent (headcount for special constables and police support volunteers)

- Number of officers by rank and gender, full time

equivalent

- Number of officers, staff and PCSOs, by gender and full/part-time employment, headcount.

Biannual

Annual

Annual

England and Wales

(inc. BTP)

Promotions - Number of officer promoted, by rank to which

they were promoted, gender, and ethnicity Annual

England and Wales

(exc. BTP)

Joiners and leavers

- Number of officer joiners by rank, gender, joiner type, and ethnicity

- Number of officer leavers by rank, gender,

leaver type, and ethnicity

- Staff, PCSO, designated officer and special constable joiners and leavers, by ethnicity and

gender.

Annual England and Wales

(inc. BTP)

Ethnicity

- Number of officers, by detailed ethnic group and gender.

- Number of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) officers, by rank and gender.

- Number of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) staff, PCSOs, designated officers and special constables, by gender.

Annual England and Wales

(inc. BTP)

Police functions - Number of officers, staff and PCSOs, by primary

function Annual

England and Wales

(exc. BTP)

Long term absence - Number of officers on long term absence

(including sickness), by rank and gender Annual

England and Wales

(inc. BTP)

Recuperative and adjusted/restricted duties

- Number of officers on recuperative and adjusted/restricted duties

Annual England and Wales

(exc. BTP)

Length of service (Official Statistics)

- Number of officers, by length of service Annual England and Wales

(exc. BTP)

Age - Age of workers, by worker type (headcount) Annual England and Wales (inc. BTP)

Misconduct (Experimental Statistics)

- Number of misconduct and gross misconduct cases, for officers and staff, as well as outcomes of these cases and outcomes of criminal investigations.

Annual England and Wales

(exc. BTP)

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The main annual release (at as 31 March) covers the full range of statistics shown above, while the shorter mid-

year release contains statistics on the numbers of officers and other police workers in post as at 30 September

each year.

Statistics from other data sources may be referenced in the release. Where this is the case, links to data sources

are made in the relevant sections of the release.

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2 Data Quality

Quality summary The published figures on the police workforce are sourced from police forces’ personnel records. The Home Office is continually working with police forces to fully understand their processes and the limitations of the data. As part of the data confirmation process (as described in Appendix A) for the 2013/14 and 2014/15 statistics, the Home Office asked forces about the quality of their data, with a particular reference to how closely linked the workforce data provided are to personnel records. Just under half of the 44 police forces in England and Wales responded, and all reported that the data were generated either directly or indirectly from their HR systems. Forces highlighted that the main risks were the accuracy and completeness of the information on their HR systems, and ensuring that these were up to date. Some forces noted that the reports they generate from their HR systems can be directly transferred to the data collection templates requested by the Home Office, whilst others adjust their reports to ensure the templates are populated correctly. It was noted that the associated risk with this manual adjustment is human error. Separately, a subset of forces was also asked for information on what checks they carry out on their HR/personnel systems for their own assurance. Several forces reported conducting routine checks on their systems, with varying degrees of frequency. It was noted that this involves reconciliation exercises, data cleansing, as well as comparing data to the previous quarters/months and correcting anomalies. Over the course of the two exercises described above, over half of all forces responded about the way in which they provide and check data. However, it is possible that those who responded are not representative of all forces. Therefore, the Home Office continues to engage with forces, with a focus on those who did not respond to these exercises. This is with a view to understanding their data better, including the potential risks and sources of error involved.

The section below outlines the key characteristics and limitations of each dataset. Where there are limitations, the

implications of these in terms of uses of the data are outlined. The strengths and limitations of the data vary from

force to force depending on specific internal data collection and quality assurance procedures.

Workforce Numbers and Ethnicity

Background:

• Forces keep records of all staff employed by the force on their HR and payroll systems. Employees will not be paid if they are not on these systems, and so it is in the interests of the force and the individuals to ensure that these systems are kept up to date.

• Information on demographics, such as gender and ethnicity, is inputted into HR systems when an individual is recruited. These characteristics can usually then be amended by HR/the individual later. Some forces have self-service systems to allow employees to amend their details.

• Ethnicity and gender data are often used by forces as part of their own diversity monitoring schemes. Several forces publish diversity reports, and the data feed in to these. There is therefore a need for forces to be assured that these data are reliable.

Limitations Implications

Special constable numbers can fluctuate depending on how often forces review their data and remove those who have not recently done shifts from their systems.

Year on year changes in the number of special constables should be treated with some caution, particularly at force level.

Ethnicity data relies on individuals and HR teams keeping the system up to date and accurate.

Ethnicity breakdowns of the workforce may not always be totally accurate. Cases where individuals have not provided their ethnicity appear as ‘not stated’ within the data tables. Some forces have larger proportions of these cases than others.

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HR and payroll systems are not always aligned in forces. Differences between them sometimes need to be corrected manually.

Published figures may not always be completely accurate if HR systems are not updated quickly to reflect the payroll system. The two systems are usually cross checked periodically in forces, but changes in staff numbers can sometimes take a little time to feed into the statistics.

Summary – The workforce numbers data are of high quality and the limitations are likely to have a minimal impact

on the data quality. An accurate picture of the workforce is essential for forces to ensure that their workers’ pay and

pension arrangements are correct.

Joiners and leavers

Background:

• By keeping a record of staff members, including their joining and leaving dates in the force, forces can report the number of joiners and leavers in a given period.

• Joining and leaving dates need to be correct in order to ensure that individuals’ pay and pension details are correct.

Limitations Implications

Joiner and leaver data rely on HR systems being kept up to date. It is possible that sometimes joiners and leavers will not be picked up in the correct period.

A small number of workers joining and leaving towards the end of each period may not be included for the figures in that period. Thus the published figures may be a slight underestimate. They are unlikely to be an overestimate unless they include some delayed cases from previous periods.

Ethnicity data relies on individuals and HR teams keeping the system up to date and accurate.

Ethnicity breakdowns may not always be totally accurate. Cases where individuals have not provided their ethnicity appear as ‘not stated’ within the data tables. Some forces have larger proportions of these cases than others.

Data on the route of entry/exit depends on forces correctly interpreting the definitions for each type.

In a small number of cases forces may incorrectly classify a joiner or leaver if they misinterpret the guidance provided by the Home Office. Totals for some joiner/leaver categories may therefore be slightly inaccurate. This is likely to be more of an issue at force level than nationally.

Summary – The joiners and leavers data are of high quality and the limitations are likely to have a minimal impact

on the data quality. An accurate picture of the current workforce, and thus the number of joiners and leavers, is

essential for forces to ensure that their payroll information is correct.

Promotions

Background:

• By keeping a record of officer promotions, including the date on which the officer was promoted, forces can report the number of promotions in a given period.

• Promotion dates need to be correct in order to ensure that individuals’ pay and pension details are correct.

Limitations Implications

Promotion data rely on HR systems being kept up to date. It is possible that sometimes promotions will not be picked up in the correct period.

A small number of promotions towards the end of each period may not be included for the figures in that period. Thus the published figures may be a slight underestimate. They are unlikely to be an overestimate unless they include some delayed cases from previous periods.

Ethnicity data relies on individuals and HR teams keeping the system up to date and accurate.

Ethnicity breakdowns may not always be totally accurate. Cases where individuals have not provided their ethnicity appear as ‘not stated’ within the data tables. Some forces have larger proportions of these cases than others.

Data on the rank to which an officer is promoted is dependent on HR systems being kept up to date however HR and payroll

Published figures may not always be completely accurate if HR systems are not updated quickly to reflect the payroll system. The two systems are usually cross checked

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systems are not always aligned in forces. periodically in forces, but changes in rank can sometimes take a little time to feed into the statistics.

Summary – The promotions data are of high quality and the limitations are likely to have a minimal impact on the

data quality. An accurate picture of the current workforce, and thus the number of promotions, is essential for forces

to ensure that their payroll information is correct.

Police functions

Background:

• Police workers are categorised based on their primary role i.e. the role in which they spend most of their time. If an officer spends 60% of their time in role A and 40% in role B, they would only be categorised as working in role A.

• Changes in the structure and type of policing can have a significant effect on the figures. Limitations Implications

These data are based on the primary role of workers. This will not reflect all of the roles that they fulfil in their job.

Some functions may appear to be under/over-represented in the data. For example, if 100 officers spend just 20% of their time in function A, this will be counted as zero officers working in that area.

Policing structures can change over time, which can distort the figures.

Caution should be exercised when comparing figures for individual functions over time, particularly where there have been known changes to policing structures in that area.

The way in which forces classify the primary role can be subjective, so this can affect the consistency of the figures over time depending on who makes this judgement.

Caution should be exercised when making comparisons over time for specific functions at force level. This is less likely to affect the aggregated measure of frontline policing.

Some forces are not able to make a clear distinction between certain functions (e.g. neighbourhoods and response), and therefore record the majority of/all officers under one function.

Caution should be exercised when comparing figures for individual functions over time and across forces. Details of known inconsistencies are included in the data tables.

Some forces are not able to separate out employees on career breaks, maternity leave and other long term absence. Therefore in some cases these are not included in the “Other” category, but in the relevant function.

These data should not be used to assess long term absence in forces. The numbers for individual functions may be slightly inconsistent between forces and years, depending on how forces have categorised staff on long term absence. However, the impact of this is likely to be very small, given the relatively small proportion of employees on long term absence as at 31 March each year.

Summary – The functions data are of medium quality, and some caution should be taken when using these figures

and attempting to make comparisons over time. Different forces may classify primary roles in different ways, and

within forces figures can change over time depending on police structures. The new functions framework (see page

8) means that most individual functions can no longer be compared over time in a meaningful way.

Long term absence (including sickness)

Background:

• Long term absences are those that have lasted for more than 28 days as at 31 March.

• Forces keep records of sickness amongst their employees. These are often recorded as part their main HR system, but sometimes on separate systems.

• Sickness absence cases need to be opened and closed by the relevant staff member/manager/HR professional.

• Other absence types are usually recorded on force HR systems, although in a small number of cases forces are unable to provide data.

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Limitations Implications

The completeness of the data often relies on managers and HR professionals recording all cases on the system.

Some sickness cases may not be included if not recorded on the system. This is likely to affect short term sickness data more than long term sickness data.

Information about the length of the absence depends on cases being closed promptly by managers/HR professionals.

Some durations of absence may be wrong if absences are not closed promptly. In the case of sickness, this is likely to affect short term sickness data more than long term sickness data.

Data on some absence types are not always available for all forces.

Comparisons between forces for absence types other than sickness and maternity/paternity leave should be done with caution.

Some absences that are expected to last more than 28 days, but have not yet done so, may be wrongly included in the data.

Figures for some forces may be a slight overestimate if cases that have not yet lasted 28 days are included.

Summary – The long term absence data are of medium quality, as they are dependent to a large extent on how

accurately forces record absences such as sickness and career breaks on their systems. Some caution should be

taken when making comparisons between forces and years.

Length of service (Official Statistics)

Background:

• These data should cover length of service in the whole of the police service, not just in the current force.

• Forces require this information in order to ensure that pension arrangements for their staff are correct.

• Forces usually hold the exact start date on their systems, so the length of service categories should be accurate. Limitations Implications

A number of forces are unable to provide data on length of service in the police and can only provide length of service in current force/post.

For some forces length of service may be undercounted, as previous posts in other police forces are not accounted for. This is particularly likely to affect senior ranks. Nationally the data will show too few people in longer service categories, and too many in shorter ones. However, given that constables make up the majority of the workforce, the effect of this is likely to be relatively small.

The data rely on the start date used being the same across all forces and years.

Data may not always be comparable in different years/forces if different start dates are used. However, it is not expected that this would have a large effect.

Unpaid long term absence and career breaks may be included by some forces. Most should exclude them.

Data may not always be perfectly comparable between forces. However, this should only affect a small number of cases, and should not have a major impact on length of service in most cases.

Summary – The length of service data are of medium quality, with some known limitations about forces’ ability to

include all service, rather than just service in the current force. This should be considered when comparing data

between forces and considering the overall national picture.

Recuperative and adjusted duties

Background:

• For more information on what recuperative and adjusted/restricted duties are and how they are used, please see the statistical release, and the glossary section of this user guide.

• Forces need to record the number of officers on recuperative and adjusted duties accurately in order to ensure that they are managing their workforce appropriately.

• A small number of forces were unable to provide these data, as these cases are not recorded in a way that

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allows them to be easily reported on.

Limitations Implications

Forces may not always accurately record all individuals who are on these duties on their systems.

The data may be an undercount in some forces where records are not complete.

Forces may not keep records up to date, particularly for recuperative duties, which tend to be a short term measure.

Data for the number of officers on recuperative duties may not be perfectly up to date at year end if forces have not kept their records up to date. The extent of this will vary by force.

Forces are at different stages of the transition to using the new category of ‘adjusted duties’ rather than the old ‘restricted duties’ one.

Data on restricted/adjusted duties are not directly comparable across forces, as forces are using different criteria for categorising officers during the transition period.

Summary – The recuperative and adjusted/restricted duties data are of medium quality, with the reliability of the

data varying depending on how accurately forces record and maintains this information. Comparisons between years

and forces should be done with some caution given the transition from the old categories to the new ones.

Age

Background:

• Taken from force HR systems, based on date of birth of worker. Usually entered into system when the individual joins the force.

• Forces require this information in order to ensure that pension arrangements for their workforce are correct.

Limitations Implications

Forces may input data incorrectly into their HR systems

Minimal – likely to be rare and should be corrected due to implications for pensions etc

Data may not match data on total strength provided by forces – the figures are collected in different returns

Minimal – mismatches are likely to be small and have little effect on the overall age distribution in forces

Summary – The age data are of high quality, with very few known limitations. The importance of age data in

monitoring the workforce and pension arrangements ensures high quality.

Misconduct (Experimental Statistics)

Background:

• Data are taken from force IT systems which are maintained by the forces’ Professional Standards Departments.

• Data were first collected in 2015/16. Due to the provisional nature of this dataset, these statistics have been designated as Experimental Statistics, to acknowledge that further development will take place in the coming years. Limitations Implications

Forces have different approaches when deciding which public complaint cases to record on their systems

Data on total numbers of cases received are not currently comparable across forces. Some record all cases received, whereas others do not record those that are dealt with via Local Resolution.

Forces may record cases involving police staff in different ways

Data on misconduct cases relating to police officers must be recorded on forces’ systems using the framework set out in the legislation, therefore data are more consistent. However, members of police staff are not subject to the same regulations so there are often different processes and recording practices for staff cases of misconduct and gross misconduct across forces.

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For further information about the strengths, limitations and comparability of misconduct data, please see the relevant

section of the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales, 30 September 2017’ statistical bulletin.

Summary – The misconduct data for officers are generally of high quality, albeit with a known lack of comparability between the total numbers of cases recorded by forces (see above). The misconduct data for staff are of medium quality, with some known differences in recording practices across forces. This should be considered when comparing data between forces and considering the overall national picture.

Assaults

Background:

• The data source for assaults on police officers is the police recorded crime series, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) within the latest “Crime in England and Wales” release.

• Previously it was only possible to identify assaults on police officers that did not result in injury within these recorded crime figures. Data on assaults on police officers that did result in injury previously came from forces’ health and safety systems. Data on assaults with injury on PCSOs are still reported to forces’ health and safety systems.

• On 1st April 2017, a new crime classification was introduced of ‘assault with injury on a constable’, therefore all data on assaults on police officers now come from police recorded crime data.

Limitations Implications

The completeness of the data often relies on officers reporting a crime.

Some officers view assaults as part of the job and do not always raise crime reports, therefore likely to be an underestimate of assaults on officers.

Not all forces can identify whether the police officer was on duty at the time of the assault or not.

Comparisons between forces should be done with caution due to variability in recording.

Lack of comparability with older, health and safety system data, due to variation in recording when compared to police recorded crime data.

Comparisons over time are limited due to differences between what is recorded on health and safety systems and what is recorded as crime. For example, ‘assault with injury on a constable’ will exclude more serious cases of assault, as these will be recorded under a more serious crime classification, from which it is not possible to separately identify police officers.

Summary – The assaults data are of low/medium quality, as they are dependent to a large extent on the willingness

of officers to report crimes and do not provide a complete picture of assaults against the police. Caution should be

taken when making comparisons between forces. As this is the first year of mandatory reporting of data by forces,

using a single data source (recorded crime) for the first time, comparisons with earlier years are limited.

Quality Assurance by the Home Office

All the data received by the Home Office undergo a strict quality assurance process to ensure the data are fit for purpose and published to the highest possible standard. Any data quality issues are flagged and resolved with forces. Before publication, data are sent back to forces to ensure they are correct. Details of any known data quality issues are included in the relevant part of the bulletin, and/or data tables.

While all datasets undergo a thorough QA process, the level of quality assurance varies according to factors such as

the profile of the dataset, the likelihood of error, and what the data are used for. Data that are widely used and that

inform important and high profile decisions will receive the highest level of quality assurance. Other data will undergo

a more limited, but proportional level of QA. This ensures the data are fit-for-purpose in terms of the individual uses

of each dataset. The quality assurance checks include looking for things such as:

• Missing/incomplete data

• Inconsistencies in the data

• Extreme values

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Once these checks have been complete, Home Office statisticians undertake trend analysis to look for unusual or

unexpected trends in the data. Any inconsistencies or unusual trends are flagged with forces who are requested to

either explain the trends, or resubmit amended data.

Change of Police Functions Framework

In the July 2016 publication, police functions data were published based on the Police Objective Analysis (POA)

framework for the first time. It was agreed that this framework would replace the old police functions framework

following extensive consultation with police forces, HMIC and others. The change was agreed in order to

modernise the collection of police functions data, and bring it more in line with the framework used by HMIC to

collect data on police income, expenditure and funded posts.

The change of framework means that police functions data based on the POA framework for 2015, 2016, 2017,

2018 and 2019 are not directly comparable to data collected under the old framework. Although some

roles/functions may appear to be similar between the two, there are often differences in definitions, and so any

attempts to compare across the two frameworks should be done with considerable caution. Very few roles are

comparable across both frameworks. A full list of the functions included in the two frameworks, along with which

are classed as frontline, can be found in Annex A.

Frontline Policing Measure

As described above, the framework on which police functions data are collected changed from the July 2016

publication onwards. Alongside this, the model used to measure frontline policing also changed. Further details on

the new model can be found in Annex 4 of HMIC’s Value for Money Profiles. While data for 2015, 2016, 2017,

2018 and 2019 are based on the new framework and model, data for previous years are based on the old one (see

annex A), and so are not directly comparable. In order to allow comparisons over time, data on frontline policing for

older years have been estimated. This is based on 2015 data, which was collected from forces under both the old

and new frameworks. Using these data, the difference between the number of officers in frontline, operational

support and business support roles under the two frameworks was calculated for each force. These differences

were then applied to data based on the old framework, from 2014 and earlier, in order to produce estimates of what

these numbers would have been under the new framework in those years.

The estimation approach described above is relatively simplistic, and assumes that the trend in frontline policing

numbers seen under the old framework would have been similar under the new one. The approach has been

tested for potential biases, such as looking at 2015 functions data under the old framework compared with earlier

years, and areas where the old and new frameworks differed. It was found that the impact of these on the

proportion of officers on the frontline would be relatively small (0.1 or 0.2 percentage points) in each case. Thus it

was decided that the approach was fit for purpose.

Estimated figures for frontline policing for 2014 and before can be found in the tables alongside the 2016 statistical

bulletin. Actual figures that are based on the old framework (and so are not directly comparable) can be found in

previous bulletins.

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3 User Engagement

Uses of the data

The statistics produced in the series are used by a range of users to monitor trends in the police workforce in

England and Wales. Specific uses of the data are listed below.

Informing the general public – the statistics are used by both national and local media, which in turn informs the

public about trends in workforce numbers. Information on the statistics is also routinely requested by Parliamentary

Questions and Freedom of Information requests.

Policy making and monitoring – the statistics are used by policy areas to monitor the state of the police

workforce, including areas such as total resource levels, diversity, recruitment and retention, and frontline policing.

The data are also used to inform discussion around the allocation of police resources.

Third parties – the statistics are used by a range of third parties, from civil liberty groups to academics.

Informing public marketing campaigns – police workforce statistics are used to measure the effectiveness of recruitment campaigns by individual police forces or nationally.

Other statistical publications – the data feed into a number of other statistical bulletins. The Ministry of Justice

(MoJ) produce two statistical bulletins which draw on police diversity data published in this series. These are:

• Race and the criminal justice system

• Women and the criminal justice system

The Office for National Statistics also use the total workforce numbers in their Public Sector Employment reports.

Inspections and auditing – Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) use the data when carrying out

inspections on the size and composition of police forces. Specifically the data have fed into a number of police

effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) inspections. HMIC also publish further data on the police workforce

(e.g. police officer length of service, police officers on recuperative and adjusted duties, sickness absence) as part

of their Value for money profiles.

National and international comparisons – as well as allowing for comparisons between forces in England and

Wales, when the data are used in conjunction with other datasets, comparisons may be made with other areas. In

particular the Scottish Government and the Police Service of Northern Ireland publish a range of statistics relating

crime and justice. Caution should be taken when making comparisons between datasets, as they may not be

directly comparable due to differences with both what data are collected and how the data are collected.

Ongoing user engagement In addition to carrying out surveys of users, the Home Office aims to engage with users on a more continuous, ad hoc basis, to ensure that the statistics remain as relevant as possible. Examples have included: Functions Data A frequent theme in parliamentary questions and freedom of information requests has been the deployment of police officers and staff by function. In response, the Home Office started publishing an annual supplementary table in 2012, containing police officers, staff and police community support officers by function and police force area. Frontline policing HMIC previously published frontline policing numbers alongside the Home Office workforce statistics in July. Having established that HMIC would not be publishing on the same date, the Home Office consulted with internal users (including policy colleagues) and external users (including HMIC) to assess the importance of these statistics. This showed that they were used frequently by a range of people, and so the Home Office took the decision to add a section to the statistical bulletin on frontline policing numbers. Assaults Having consulted with key users such as the Police Federation of England and Wales and ministers, the Home Office established that there was considerable demand for improved data on assaults on police officers. This was

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published in 2009/10, but discontinued after that due to quality concerns. The Home Office therefore worked closely with police forces to publish a provisional dataset in July 2015, acknowledging the limitations of this and committing to improving this further in future. Sickness and Recuperative/Adjusted duties Having consulted with a range of users, including Home Office policy makers and the Police Federation of England and Wales, it became clear that there was demand for a wider range of published data on sickness and officers on recuperative/restricted/adjusted duties. As a result, these data were published by the Home Office as part of the Police Workforce Statistical release in 2016. This involved working with police forces to understand the quality of these data, and ensure that they were fit for publication. Police Pay Review Process The Home Office also works with other users via the Police Pay Review process, which draws heavily on police workforce statistics. These users include the Police Federation of England and Wales, the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales, the Police Remuneration Review Body and the Senior Salaries Review Body. The data requirements of these organisations are considered in terms of the robustness of the data and how fit they are for publication (where data are already collected in some form), and the feasibility and burden on police forces of establishing new collections (when no data are currently collected).

Figures for other countries Quarterly statistics on the number of police officers employed by Scottish police forces are broken down by police force and deployment and are published on the Scottish Government’s website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PublicationPoliceStrength. Police workforce statistics that include secondments and temporary transfers to other ranks are published on the Police Service of Northern Ireland website:

http://www.psni.police.uk/index/updates/updates_statistics/updates_strength_of_police_service_statistics.htm. European comparisons of the numbers of police officers appear periodically in Eurostat’s Statistics in Focus series. The most recent, EU trends in Statistics on police-recorded crime and the criminal justice system, 2008 – 2015 contains annual figures up to 2015 for individual European countries on its website at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Crime_and_criminal_justice_statistics.

Where are the latest published figures? Forthcoming publications are pre-announced on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements. The Police Workforce, England and Wales and other Home Office statistical releases are available from the Home Office pages of the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/about/statistics. Older publications can be found on the UK Government Web Archive: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135832/http:/rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/hosbarchive.html. Feedback and enquiries If you have any feedback on the releases, any other feedback or any enquiries, please email them to crimeandpolicestats@homeoffice.gov.uk or write to: Crime and Policing Analysis, 6th Floor, Fry Building, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF.

Police Workforce, England and Wales is designated as 'National Statistics', a subset of official statistics that has been granted accreditation by the UK Statistics Authority. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice and undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from political interference.

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4 Glossary

ACPO ranks – ranks of Assistant Chief Constable (Commander in the Metropolitan Police Service and City of London Police) or above. Officer membership of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) comprises these ranks.

Adjusted duties - Adjusted duties are 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, he/she must be attending work on a regular basis and be working for the full number of hours for which he/she is paid (in either a full time or part time substantive role).

Available for duty – numbers of officers or staff in post, excluding long-term absentees.

Contract staff – police workforce working for police forces but not directly employed by them. Excludes all police officers (officers do not work on a contract basis) and those on secondment.

Designated officers – skilled police staff (who are not police officers) employed to exercise specific powers that would otherwise be available to police officers. Designation can be to one or more of four roles: police community support officer (PCSO), investigation officer, detention officer and escort officer. More details of the coverage and underlying legislation appear in section 5 of this user guide.

Financial year – the 12 months ending on 31 March.

Full-time equivalent (FTE) – count of police workers that takes account of part-time working practices. For example, a full-time employee is counted as 1.0 and a part-time employee who works 70 per cent of normal hours is counted as 0.7. It accounts for contracted hours, rather than actual hours worked that might include overtime.

Government Office Region (GOR) – the Government Office Regions have been the primary classification for the presentation of regional statistics, although the regional government offices were closed in 2011. There are nine GORs in England: North East; North West; Yorkshire and the Humber; East Midlands; West Midlands; Eastern; London; South East; and South West. In this report analysis by region also includes separate analysis for Wales.

Headcount – an alternative measure to full-time equivalent, it counts all employees as 1.0, whether full- or part-time.

Joiners – includes new recruits to the police and transfers from other police forces. Further details on coverage appear in sections 4 (police officers), 5 (PCSOs and designated officers) and 6 (police staff and specials) of this user guide.

Joiner rate – number of joiners during the financial year, as a proportion of the workforce as at 31 March (i.e. the end) of that year.

Leavers – includes resignations, normal and medical retirements, dismissals, deaths and transfers to other police forces. Further details on coverage appear in sections 4 (police officers), 5 (PCSOs and designated officers), and 6 (police staff and specials) of this user guide.

Long-term absentees – police workers who are either on a career break, compassionate leave, maternity/paternity leave, special leave, study leave, suspension, or sick leave and have been absent for at least 28 calendar days.

Management restricted duties – duties falling short of full deployment to which an officer is allocated in circumstances in which: verifiable confidential or source sensitive information or intelligence has come to the notice of the force that questions the suitability of an officer to continue in his or her current post; and/or serious concerns are raised which require management actions, both for the protection of individuals and the organisation. In either case also that: criminal or misconduct proceedings are not warranted; and the Chief Constable has lost confidence in the officer continuing in their current role.

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Police community support officers (PCSOs) – one type of designated officer, they are police staff employed in a highly visible, patrolling role. More details on the roles of PCSOs and underlying legislation appear in section 5 of this user guide.

Police officers – employees of a police force, who have taken an oath (under the Police Act 1996) to uphold the law. Details of which officers are included in the statistics appear in section 4 of this user guide.

Police staff – support staff employed by a police force, other than police officers and designated officers (except where specified). Details on coverage appear in section 6 of this user guide.

Police support volunteers – Police support volunteers are members of the public who, by choice, put their time, experience, knowledge and skills at the disposal of the police, without expectation of compensation or financial reward.

Police workers – persons employed by the police, whether police officer or police staff.

Population figures – some of the tables and graphs in the main annual release use population figures to calculate the total number of police officers per 100,000 population. The population figures used for the 31 March 2014 statistics are mid-2012 population estimates based on the 2011 Census, provided by the Office for National Statistics.

Recuperative duties – 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.

Restricted duties - duties or conditions approved, other than for recuperative purposes, for fixed periods totalling more than 28 consecutive days (including rest days) for any officer who is unable for a specific reason to carry out one or more aspects of full operational duty.

Secondment – police officers who are employed by one police force but are on loan to another.

Special constables (specials) – part-time volunteer officers who have all the same powers as regular police officers.

Wastage rate – number of leavers during the financial year, as a proportion of the workforce as at 31 March (i.e. the end) of the previous year.

For a glossary of terms relating to the police misconduct data, please see the relevant section of the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales, 30 September 2017’ statistical bulletin.

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5 Conventions used in police workforce statistics

Rounding Data are mainly provided unrounded in the data tables of Police Workforce, England and Wales. This is to promote transparency and allow users to exploit the data further. However, caution should be taken when comparing small differences between time periods; while care is taken in collecting and collating all the information obtained, the figures are subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large recording system and are not necessarily accurate to the last digit. If data are published in a table in a rounded form, the footnotes to that table explain the reasons for doing this. Percentages are rounded to the nearest per cent using the round-half-away-from-zero method. The round-half-away-from-zero method has been used, so that in the borderline case where the fraction of the percentage is exactly 0.5, the rounded figure is equal to y + 0.5 if y is positive, and y - 0.5 if y is negative. For example, 23.5 per cent is rounded to 24 per cent, and -23.5 per cent is rounded to -24 per cent. When rounding whole numbers the result is similar; e.g. when rounding to the nearest 100, 1,250 would be reported as 1,300. Where data are rounded, they may not sum to the totals shown, or, in the case of percentages, to 100 per cent, because they have been rounded independently.

Use of symbols The following symbols have been used in the tables:

.. not available;

Revisions to data

Data for the latest full calendar year or financial year may be revised in due course. It is the authors’ standard practice to incorporate revisions for previous years in the latest release. Corrections and revisions follow the Home Office corporate revisions policy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-compliance-with-code-of-practice-for-official-statistics.

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6 Police officers

Coverage The Police Workforce, England and Wales release contains figures on numbers of police officers employed by the 43 Home-Office-funded police forces in England and Wales. These forces are the ones covering individual counties (e.g. Northamptonshire) or groups of counties (e.g. Dyfed-Powys). The headline figures comprise the total number of police officers in these 43 forces, and the measure used is for the full-time equivalent (FTE) number of police officers in post. This measure includes those officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave for a period exceeding 28 days at the end of the reporting period. Additionally, figures are published for officers working in the British Transport Police (BTP) in England and Wales, and officers on secondment from the 43 forces to central services: central government departments and agencies such as the Home Office and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary. As well as the headline FTE totals, headcount figures are published for numbers of officers in post and numbers of officers available for duty. The latter figure excludes police officers on long-term absences: career breaks; compassionate leave; maternity/paternity leave; special leave; study leave; suspensions; and long-term sickness. All these absences are for periods exceeding 28 days at the end of the reporting period. The officer figures in this release do not include all police officers working in England and Wales. They exclude those employed by, or seconded to, police forces other than the 43 forces and BTP, e.g. Royal Parks, port constabularies and military police. In recent years a number of forces have established collaborations, both between forces and partnerships with other bodies (such as County Councils). These collaborations present challenges when counting the number of staff, joiners and leavers in forces. To ensure consistency and comparability across forces, an approach has been agreed with all forces that officers and other staff members moving to collaborative units (i.e. units jointly funded with other forces) should NOT be treated as leavers, transferees or secondees if they remain on the payroll of their host force. These officers and staff should be counted as part of their host force’s workforce. Forces were advised to liaise with each other to ensure that officers/staff were not counted twice. These collaboration arrangements may develop further in future, and we will continue to monitor this and consider the best way in which to collect the statistics.

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7 Police community support officers and other designated officers

Police community support officers (PCSOs) Police staff employed in a highly visible, patrolling role. They complement the work of police officers by focusing predominantly on low-level crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour. They also free up police officers’ time by taking on those policing functions that do not require the full expertise of a police officer. The legislation for PCSOs was introduced as part of the Police Reform Act 2002. The Act enables force chief officers to designate PCSOs with limited enforcement powers. Unlike police officers they do not have the power of arrest, but there is a range of standard powers that they hold (e.g. to stop and search members of the public in certain situations). Additionally, each chief officer has the discretion to delegate any one of a further number of powers (e.g. to seize drugs, or issue fixed penalty notices for certain offences). The first PCSOs started work on the streets of London in September 2002.

Designated officers Persons employed by the police authority who have been chosen by chief officers to exercise specific powers that would otherwise only be available to police officers. Despite having these powers, designated officers are not police officers. They were introduced as part of the Police Reform Act 2002, sections 38 and 39 and this legislation enables the appropriate designation of skilled police staff to one or more of four roles:

• police community support officer (PCSO);

• investigation officer;

• detention officer; and

• escort officer. Statistics on PCSOs are quoted separately. (Note: Police authorities in England and Wales ceased to exist for police force areas outside London on 22 November 2012 when they were replaced by directly elected police and crime commissioners).

The totals for designated officers used in Police Workforce, England and Wales include those directly employed by the police force (under section 38 of the Act) as well as contract staff (under section 39).

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8 Other police staff, special constables and police support volunteers

Police staff In Police Workforce, England and Wales, the term ‘police staff’ is used to describe all staff employed by the police force, other than police officers, police community support officers (PCSOs) and other designated officers (except where specified). Elsewhere the term is sometimes used more widely to describe all staff other than police officers. The figures in this release include staff on fixed-term contracts, but do not include contract staff employed by private companies. It is difficult to accurately measure all types of contract staff in terms of numbers of staff working at a particular time, because of the nature of the services provided, and so figures for contract staff are excluded from the Police Workforce, England and Wales releases. This may result in some artificial falls in police staff totals, as police forces increasingly turn to contract staff to provide various services.

Special constables Special constables are members of the public who volunteer to help the police in their duties. They have the same powers as regular officers, but do not have fixed working hours (as they may fit their time around their paid work, for example) and therefore it is inappropriate to collect figures in terms of full-time equivalent. Figures are presented in terms of headcount only. More information on special constables appears on http://www.policespecials.com or on each police force’s website.

Police support volunteers Police support volunteers are members of the public who, by choice, put their time, experience, knowledge and skills at the disposal of the force without expectation of compensation or financial reward. Figures in this release only include those volunteers aged 18 years or over, and who have been vetted by the force, are counted. Therefore, those who volunteers for roles such as Neighbourhood Watch or Community Speed watch are not included. Data on the number police support volunteers was collected for the first time in 2018, on a voluntary basis.

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9 Joiners and leavers

Joiner and wastage rates Joiner rates are calculated by dividing the number of joiners during the financial year by the total number of workers as at the end of the year (i.e. 31st March). In other words, how many of those employed by the force at the end of the year joined during the course of the year. Wastage rates are calculated by dividing the number of leavers during the financial year by the total number of workers at the start of the year (i.e. as at 31 March of the previous year). In other words, how many of those employed at the start of the year left during the year. These joiner and wastage rates are good indications of staff turnover within the police. However, some workers may join and leave the force during the same year, and so would not be picked up in the joiner/wastage rates. It is not possible, based on the aggregate data available, to calculate a more precise joiner/leaver rate, as individual officers cannot be tracked in the data.

Joiner and leaver types There are various routes by which workers can join and leave the police. The categories reported on in the statistical bulletin are as follows: Joiners

• Standard direct recruit – individuals joining the force for the first time, including via Direct Entry, Fast Track and Police Now schemes. Most of these will be at Constable level, although some may join at higher ranks under Direct Entry schemes e.g. inspector and superintendent. This category also includes individuals who were formerly Police Community Support Officers and are joining as a police officer.

• Rejoining – individuals who have previously left the force completely, but have since rejoined.

• 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 (e.g. the British Transport Police).

• Special Constabulary – individuals joining the Special Constabulary from outside the force. Leavers

• Death – those who have died, either in active duty or otherwise.

• Dismissal – individuals who have been required to resign, made compulsorily redundant, or have had their contract terminated.

• 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 (e.g. the British Transport Police).

• Voluntary resignation – individuals who resign, leave under voluntary exit schemes, or come to the end of a fixed term contract. Special Constables who leave to join the regular constabulary, or have been inactive for more than 12 months, are included here.

Individuals who change worker type during the year are recorded both as a leaver from their old role, and a joiner in their new role. For example, a staff member who becomes a police officer would be counted as both a staff leaver (voluntary resignation) and a police officer joiner (standard direct recruit).

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ANNEX A: FUNCTIONS FRAMEWORKS AND FRONTLINE DEFINITIONS

Old Functions Framework

Function Category

ACPO and Directors Operational support

Air Operational frontline

Asset Confiscation Operational frontline

Buildings Business support

Burglary Operational frontline

Catering Business support

Child/Sex/Domestic/Missing Persons Operational frontline

CID Operational frontline

CID Specialist Units Operational frontline

Communications/IT/Audio Business support

Community Safety/Relations Operational frontline

Complaints and Discipline Operational support

Control Room (Call Handlers) Operational frontline

Coroner's Officer Operational support

Corporate Development Business support

Crime and Incident Management Operational frontline

Criminal Justice Units Operational support

Criminal Records Office Operational support

Custody Operational frontline

Departmental Heads Operational support

Dogs Operational frontline

Drivers Business support

Drugs Operational frontline

Enquiry/Station Operational frontline

Finance Business support

Fingerprint/ Photographic Operational support

Firearms – Tactical Operational frontline

Firearms/ Explosives Operational frontline

Fraud Operational frontline

Hate Crime Operational frontline

HOLMES Unit Operational frontline

Intelligence Operational support

Local Commanders Operational frontline

Marine Operational frontline

Mounted Operational frontline

Neighbourhoods Operational frontline

Operational Planning Operational support

Other Admin/Clerical Business support

Personnel/Human Resources Business support

Ports Operational frontline

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Press and Public Relations Business support

Property Business support

Probation Officers Year 1 Operational frontline

Response Operational frontline

Scenes of Crime Operational frontline

Special Branch/ Protection/Immigration/ Nationality Operational frontline

Staff Associations Business support

Staff Officers Operational support

Stores/Supplies Business support

Surveillance Unit Operational frontline

Technical Support Unit Operational frontline

Traffic Operational frontline

Traffic Wardens Operational frontline

Training Business support

Underwater Operational frontline

Vehicle Crime Operational frontline

Vehicle Workshops/Fleet Business support

Vice Operational frontline

Welfare Business support

Other Excluded from model

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New Framework – Police Objective Analysis (POA)

Function Category

1) Local Policing

a. Neighbourhood Policing Visible operational front line

b. Incident (Response) Management Visible operational front line

c. Specialist Community Liaison Visible operational front line

d. Local Command Team Visible operational front line

2) Dealing with the Public

a. Front Desk Non-visible front line

b. Central Communications Unit Non-visible front line

d. Dealing with the Public Command Team Non-visible front line

3) Criminal Justice Arrangements

a. Custody Non-visible front line

b. Police doctors/nurses & surgeons Non-visible front line

e. Criminal Justice Frontline support

f. Police National Computer Frontline support

g. Criminal Record Bureau (now called Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)) Frontline support

h. Coroner Assistance Frontline support

i. Fixed Penalty Schemes (Central Ticket Office) Frontline support

j. Property Officer / Stores Business support

k. Criminal Justice Arrangements Command Team Frontline support

4) Road Policing

a. Traffic Units Visible operational front line

b. Traffic wardens / Police Community Support Officers – Traffic

Visible operational front line

c. Vehicle Recovery Non-visible front line

d. Casualty Reduction Partnership Non-visible front line

e. Road policing Command Team Non-visible front line

5) Operational Support

a. Operational Support Team Non-visible front line

b. Air Operations Non-visible front line

c. Mounted Police Visible operational front line

d. Specialist Terrain Non-visible front line

e. Dogs Section Visible operational front line

f. Advanced Public Order Non-visible front line

g. Airport & Ports Policing Unit Non-visible front line

h. Firearms Unit Visible operational front line

i. Civil Contingencies and Events Frontline support

6) Intelligence

a. Intelligence Command Team Frontline support

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b. Intelligence Analysis / Threat Assessments Frontline support

c. Intelligence Gathering Non-visible front line

7) Investigations

a. Investigations Command Team Non-visible front line

b. Major Investigation Unit Non-visible front line

c. Economic Crime (including Regional Asset Recovery Team) Non-visible front line

d. Specialist Investigation Units Non-visible front line

e. Serious & Organised Crime Unit Non-visible front line

g. Local Investigation/Prisoner Processing Non-visible front line

h. Cyber crime Non-visible front line

13) Public Protection

a. Witness Protection (adult and child) Non-visible front line

b. Child Protection Non-visible front line

c. Adult Protection Non-visible front line

d. Joint teams Non-visible front line

e. Public Protection Command Team and Support Overheads Non-visible front line

8) Investigative Support

a. Scenes of Crime Officers Non-visible front line

b. External Forensic Frontline support

c. Fingerprint Frontline support

d. Photographic Image Recovery Frontline support

e. Other Forensic Services Frontline support

f. Investigative Support Command Team Frontline support

9) National Policing

10) Support Functions

a. Human Resources Business support

b. Finance Business support

c. Legal Services Business support

d. Fleet Services Business support

e. Estates / Central Building Business support

f. Information Communication Technology Business support

g. Professional Standards Frontline support

h. Press and Media Business support

i. Performance Review / Corporate Development Business support

j. Procurement Business support

k. Training Business support

l. Administration Support Business support

m. Force Command Frontline support

n. Support to Associations and Trade Unions Business support

o. Social Club Support and Force band Business support

p. Insurance / Risk Management Business support

q. Catering Business support

Other

Other Excluded from model

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ANNEX B: KEY STAGES IN THE PRODUCTION OF THE STATISTICAL RELEASE

A. PREPARATORY WORK

Annual Data Requirement (ADR) process (during the 12 months prior to the data period):

• consultation with forces and stakeholders; all stakeholders complete a questionnaire to justify the retention (or otherwise) of each of their series;

• requests for changes or additions to the ADR considered by the ADR committee (which weighs up the benefits against administrative burden); and

• ADR committee decisions for inclusion in the final ADR for submission for Home Secretary’s approval.

Review of IT systems (during the 12 months prior to the data period):

• incorporate amendments/additions/withdrawals; and

• any case for IT work incurring costs to be justified and approved by budget manager.

Issue statistical returns, covering letter and notes for guidance to police forces (around the start of the data period). Agree and pre-announce the provisional date of publication of the statistical bulletin on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publication hub (around 9–12 months prior to publication). Review content of the statistical bulletin and other regular outputs (around six months prior to publication), and agree findings with stakeholders. Any substantial reduction in content of statistical release would require a consultation with users. Review and update project plan for the new financial year (around six months prior to publication):

• include all the milestones in this framework, plus deadlines and measures of criticality (e.g. a traffic light system);

• timings to fit in with staffing levels, pressures and the relative priorities of each series;

• timings also to fit in with National Statistics pre-announced months of publication (with no series to be published more than 12 months after the data period) and policy demands.

B. DATA INPUT AND QUALITY ASSURANCE Police forces’ submission of returns within deadline:

• data collection section deals with force queries on completion of return;

• output team deals with all other queries about notes for guidance, definitions, release practice, recording practice;

• data collection section logs and ensures that returns are correctly input electronically.

Chase late and incomplete returns after deadline for completion, by the data collection section. Receipt and input of late returns. Estimates are sometimes entered for missing data or if a police force cannot provide figures comparable with the previous period (because of a gap in data recording, for example). This is a last resort though, and the Home Office will first try to enforce the mandatory nature of the returns. There have been no recent examples of headline police workforce figures having been estimated. Validation and variation checks and taking up issues with forces. These checks are a combination of automated error checks and analytical checks from data extracts.

The automated variation checks for police workforce statistics have a threshold of + or - 0.25 per cent between the current and previous year for values over 100, and a sliding scale between + or - 0.35 per cent and + or - 0.5 per cent for values between 10 and 100.

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Validation checks are mainly cross references between different police workforce returns. For example, the total of workforce breakdowns by ethnicity, age and length in service must match the main workforce totals.

Receipt and input of revised returns following validation check, and satisfactory reasons or revisions provided following variation checks.

Reconciliation exercises (where appropriate). A reconciliation exercise applies when figures from one collection need to be checked with those from another collection. The figures do not have to match but the differences need to be properly explained. In past years, we have accepted small differences between the total of the breakdown by police function and the overall total, but due to the increased importance of the functions collection in inspections of police performance, these two totals are now precisely matched. Production of complete validated dataset according to required standards. Final checks to ensure data of publishable standard, before data confirmation exercise (see below). C. PREPARATION FOR PUBLICATION Prepare detailed publication schedule (at least three months before publication), containing all specific tasks, milestones and staff allocated to them. Agree and pre-announce finalised day of publication (around one to three months before publication). Data confirmation exercise. All police forces are sent the figures for its force that will appear in the publication and asked to provide written confirmation. This is to reduce further the risk of incorrect figures being published, and supports the Home Office in any disagreement with a police force over the figures published for that force. Receipt and input of revised data where appropriate following the data confirmation exercise. Produce dataset for use in publication. Prepare draft of tables, charts and commentary and circulate to nominated people for quality assurance (this group appears on the pre-release access list) (two to three weeks before publication). Statistics news release and pre-release access sent for preparation of HTML web pages. The commentary, tables, charts and statistics news release are circulated 24 hours before publication to a nominated list of people (including ministers and press office) as shown on pre-release access list. Meet with Home Office colleagues on 24-hour list to discuss content and handling issues. Publication. D. FOLLOW-UP WORK Wash-up meeting on process of publication. Agree actions for next year and lessons learned. Published dataset to be used for Parliamentary Questions, Freedom of Information and other enquiries (until following publication).