South Yorkshire Police boss issues statement on new recruits

South Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner has issued a statement on the number of new recruits set to strengthen the front line ahead of a question to be asked by a local MP in parliament next week.
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Rother Valley MP Alexander Stafford has submitted a question in advance that he wishes to raise in the House of Commons on Monday.

He is set to ask Home Secretary Priti Patel what steps her department is taking to increase police officer numbers.

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The government has already committed to recruiting an extra 20,000 bobbies over the next few years and South Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Dr Alan Billings, has expressed surprise at the MP’s question being asked.

South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, Dr Alan Billings, has released a statement on police officer recruits ahead of a question to be asked by Rother Valley MP Alexander Stafford in the House of Commons next weekSouth Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, Dr Alan Billings, has released a statement on police officer recruits ahead of a question to be asked by Rother Valley MP Alexander Stafford in the House of Commons next week
South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, Dr Alan Billings, has released a statement on police officer recruits ahead of a question to be asked by Rother Valley MP Alexander Stafford in the House of Commons next week

He said: “I was surprised to see that next week in questions to the Home Secretary, the MP for Rother Valley is asking what steps her department is taking to increase the number of police officers.

“If this is a question about police officer numbers nationally, we all know the answer to that. By the time of the next general election, the government wants to restore the 20,000 officers it cut from 2010 onwards.

“In the next financial year they will fund 6,000 towards that total.

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“To that end it is making funding available through the police grant.”

He added: “I will use the funding in Home Office grant to recruit an additional 149 officers in line with the national uplift, though we are required to send seven of these officers to the Regional Crime Unit in Wakefield.

“But the MP might also note that I will go beyond that and fund from local resources a further 79 officers. This makes a total of 228 additional officers for South Yorkshire in the next financial year.

“These numbers are all determined locally and I would have been happy to give them to the MP had he asked.”

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South Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Panel recently voted to increase Council Tax payments in the county to increase the portion allocated for police and crime services.

The extra police funding will pay for the new recruits policing the county.