Have 20,000 extra police by spring 2023
“By this Spring, we will have an extra 20,000 police officers, patrolling the streets, answering the call for help, and catching criminals.”
- Delivered
Where it stands
The Home Office's final figures show 20,947 additional officers recruited through the Police Uplift Programme by 31 March 2023, against a target of 20,000, taking the number of officers in England and Wales to 149,566. 42 of the 43 forces met their own allocation; the Metropolitan Police did not. The target was a manifesto commitment of the then government, which the Prime Minister repeated here; "this Spring" is read as 31 May 2023.
What has happened
- Jan 2023The Prime Minister says there will be an extra 20,000 police officers by the spring, Promised
- May 202320,000 extra officers due "by this Spring" (editorial date, end of May 2023), Deadline
- Jul 2023Home Office final figures: 20,947 additional officers recruited by 31 March 2023 against the 20,000 target, Delivered evidence
About the cost
No figure in the speech.
More detail
Sources (2)
How cards are checked
Status follows the promise standard, the same for every party. A status changes only on evidence. Anyone named on a card can reply, and replies are published next to it. AI Journalist is our automated reviewer: it re-reads every card against its live sources (the quote word for word, dates, evidence, status, cost, neutral wording, legal risk). An editor, Pavel Guzhikov, then checks each card against its sources and approves it.
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