Tories slam ‘day of shame’ as police numbers plummet under Labour | Politics | News
Police numbers decreased by more than 1000 in a year (Image: Getty)
New figures show the number of police officers in England and Wales has fallen by more than 1,300 in 12 months and is now 2,000 below the peak reached in 2024.
A total of 145,550 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers were serving in 43 regional police agencies at the end of September 2025; This number decreased by 1,318 (0.9%) compared to the previous year.
This also marked a decrease of 2,195 FTE officers, or 1.5%, from the record high number of 147,745 at the end of March 2024.
Home Office figures published on Wednesday show a clear shift in the number of FTE officers, masking wide differences across the country.
The picture is mixed, with 24 police forces seeing an increase in the number of officers compared to the previous year, for a total increase of 457.
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However, this was balanced by the remaining 19 forces; these all decreased on a year-on-year basis, resulting in a total decline of 1,775, resulting in a net decrease in the number of officers totaling 1,318.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp MP said: “Under Labor the number of police officers has fallen by 1,318 in just one year. The total number of people involved in policing has fallen by 3,000. This is an embarrassing day for Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who said nothing about increasing or even maintaining overall police numbers in her plans earlier this week.”
“Reducing the number of police officers and police staff means fewer police to investigate crimes, patrol the streets and respond to 999 calls. The last Conservative government achieved record police numbers in March 2024. But Labor has destroyed that legacy and police numbers are now falling rapidly. The public will be less safe, thanks to Labor and Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood.”
Labor had promised to deploy 13,000 more neighborhood police officers, with a designated police officer for each community, at the 2024 general election.
The net decline in the number of FTE officers in England and Wales was driven almost entirely by a sharp decline in the Metropolitan Police, the country’s largest police force.
Of the 19 forces reporting a net decline in police officers by September 2025, 18 saw a decline of between one (Bedfordshire) and 43 (Devon & Cornwall).
In contrast, the Met reported a net decrease of 1,461 officers, or a 4.3% decline.
The figures come just days after the Home Secretary announced plans for what were billed as the biggest changes in the police force’s history.
Ministers will seek to “significantly” reduce the number of police forces in England and Wales by the end of the next parliament, with new, larger forces divided into local areas corresponding to cities, towns and counties, according to reforms published in the Government’s white paper on Monday.
An existing funding scheme called the officer maintenance grant will be scrapped to support the placement of more officers in community roles, after ministers said the grant encouraged forces to employ uniformed police officers to meet staffing targets but then placed them in administrative roles such as IT or human resources.
Meanwhile, live facial recognition tools will also be rolled out across the country, and the artificial intelligence will be overseen by a new national hub, Police.AI, in a bid to free officers from paperwork and ensure the technology is used responsibly.
Ministers have already pledged to recruit a further 13,000 neighborhood police officers by 2029, with 3,000 expected to start in the spring of this year.
Home Office data shows that there were 2,383 new police and community support officers (FTEs) in neighborhood duties as of the end of September last year.
A Home Office spokesman said: “These figures show that in the last six months almost 2,400 more neighborhood officers across the country have put police on the streets where people want them.
“The last Government left 12,000 commissioned officers stuck behind desks in support roles.
“This Government is restoring neighborhood policing by placing 13,000 more neighborhood officers on parliamentary streets and has increased police funding by nearly £2bn.”
