COUNCILLORS say the latest figures show the Government is failing on its’ promise to recruit 154 more police officers in Gloucestershire by 2023, but the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) says they will "certainly have egg on their faces" by the end of the financial year.

The Liberal Democrat group at Gloucestershire County Council says that the Conservatives’ pledge to boost police officer numbers looks set to become "yet another of their broken promises", after Home Office figures showed that numbers in the county have actually fallen by 22 officers since Conservative PCC Chris Nelson was elected last May.

Quarterly figures for the Government’s police officer uplift programme for England and Wales were released last Wednesday (January 26).

The data shows that Gloucestershire had 1,252 officers when PCC Nelson was elected, and 1,230 at the end of December.

Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, leader of the Lib Dem group at Gloucestershire County Council, said: "People in Gloucestershire are being let down and taken for granted by this Conservative Government.

"With so many local crimes going unsolved, we desperately need more police on our streets and in our communities.

"The Conservatives’ pledge to boost police officer numbers looks set to become yet another of their broken promises.

"They are letting down victims of crime and our communities right across our area."

But PCC Nelson hit back at the Lib Dems’ analysis of the figures, labelling their claims "wrong and disingenuous" and saying that the constabulary is "well on course" to achieve its target by March next year.

He says that the fluctuation in force strength is due to "a large than usual" number of officers having retired since he was elected, which he says has been compensated for.

His office claims that in the first year of the national uplift programme in 2020/21, the number of officers increased by 46, with year two on target for another 46 and a further 62 to be recruited in year three.

PCC Nelson said: "The Liberal Democrats will certainly have egg on their faces by the end of this financial year when Gloucestershire Police will have 46 more established officers than last year (on top of the 46 that were added last year), and the whole Constabulary will continue to grow in establishment for every year of my term.

"Of course there is always some fluctuation in force strength due to those reaching retirement, particularly as many held back from making career changes as they valiantly fought COVID, but we are well on course to achieve the Government’s contribution of 154 additional police officers by the target date of 31st March 2023, and it would be wrong and disingenuous to say otherwise.

"Thanks to the significant investment that the Government and I are making into policing in Gloucestershire, our training centre is literally bursting at the seams with new officers, PCSOs and staff who will very shortly be on the streets of our County, preventing crime and keeping communities safe.

"Since May 2021, when I was elected, a larger than usual number of officers have taken their retirement, which they had chosen to delay to help the Constabulary and the public while we were dealing with the burdens of the pandemic.

"This has been compensated for by recruiting more officers, in addition to those required to meet the uplift targets. This is normal business for the Constabulary. 

"I am very grateful to those retiring, for their public service, committed approach to serving residents, and would like to thank them most sincerely for the long years of dedicated service they have shown our County."