Implications: For individuals on career breaks some forces remove the FTE of that individual from their HR systems, while maintaining the headcount as one. This means the FTE would show as 0 and we do not have an accurate record of the FTE the individual was on before taking a career break.

Limitations: Data on the rank to which an officer is promoted is dependent on HR systems being kept up to date however HR and payroll systems are not always aligned in forces. Recent changes to police force HR systems to align with the new Data Standards has allowed all staff the opportunity to review existing records and declare further information on protected characteristics. As many officers are yet to update their HR records, data against some of the protected characteristics are not currently complete. The impact of this is that for some protected characteristics (for example, sexual orientation, disability status and religious beliefs) there are a high volume of officers in the “Not known” category. Implications: Over time the size and structure of the population will change however the Census is the only source of information on the population by protected characteristics. Therefore, the Census population data is used for a long period of time when comparing the police workforce to the local population. Limitations: 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. Third parties – the statistics are used by a range of third parties, from civil liberty groups to academics.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). Implications:Joiners are shown in these data at the rank in which they were as at the 31 March snapshot. If the individual joined within the year and were later promoted in-year, they show as a joiner at their new rank. Table F4 of the data tables accompanying this publication provides definitions of the POA function framework as well as a list of front line and non-front line functions. 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.

Limitations: Some forces are not able to make a clear distinction between certain functions (for example, neighbourhoods and response), and therefore record the majority of/all officers under one function. 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 The main annual release (as at 31 March) covers the full range of statistics shown below, 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. Ethnicity facts and figures – the statistics are used by the Race Disparity Unit within Cabinet Office to monitor the ethnic diversity of public services, including the police workforce. The data feed into the ‘Police workforce ethnicity facts and figures’ published on gov.uk. Sulimani-Aidan, Y et al. Psychological distress among care leavers during the transition to adulthood: Risk and protective factors throughout their life. Child and Family Social Work. 2022: 27: 324-339.This measure is not expected to have any significant economic impacts. Impact on individuals, households and families 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. Although most UK Service leavers experience successful transitions to civilian life, some face challenges including ill health, unemployment, debt and homelessness. In 2016, the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) ran a consultation on Life Transitions that identified individual resilience as an important driver of successful transition. Building on this engagement, FiMT commissioned RAND Europe to research the effect of Service leavers’ resilience on transition pathways and outcomes. Goals Since April 2020, the Home Office has published a quarterly release on ‘Police officer uplift’ statistics. This release provided information on progress towards the recruitment of these officers and data were provided (by month) on a headcount basis for each of the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. The ‘Police officer uplift’ statistics are due to be retired following the final release in July 2023 which will report the final position as at 31 March 2023. 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. Protected characteristics

Deeper dive’ research into the support provided for comparator groups experiencing transition could offer lessons for the Service leaver context. from the year ending March 2021, the data collection on protected characteristics was therefore expanded, to include religion and belief, gender reassignment, sexual orientation and disability status, which were previously not collected, as well as sex and gender and ethnicity, which were already collected. This change, along with the harmonised categories for each variable (Workforce Data Standards), was agreed between Home Office, NPCC and the College of Policing Currently children in care services do not routinely extend to care leavers, and this period of transition is a time of uncertainty and vulnerability. Health assessments cease at the age of 18 and there is no further specific follow up by health. This is a potential area for further review about what a care leaver at the age of 18 wants or needs to support this period of transition and to ensure that they are not lost between services. 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. Implications: 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.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.