MPA congratulates Met on new recruitment figures

82/02
29 July 2002

The Met achieved remarkable success in 2001/2002 by meeting and surpassing increasingly challenging recruitment targets. 2,748 new recruits joined the Met this year compared to 1,350 last year - an increase almost equivalent to taking on a medium sized police service, like Kent or Sussex.

At the Human Resources’ Committee meeting, Rachel Whittaker, Chair, said:

“These figures are extremely encouraging and demonstrate the tremendous effort that the Met has made to tackle recruitment. New initiatives and processes have all contributed to a 104% increase in the number of recruits joining Hendon Training School compared to the year before.

“The MPA has also recently set up a Taskforce, led by Deputy Chair R. David Muir, to examine new ways of increasing visible minority ethnic recruitment to the Met to make sure that our police service reflects the proportionality of the people it serves.

“However, recruitment is only one half of the equation – we have lessons to learn to order to retain our police officers and civil staff. The Met’s new Retention Strategy, developed in conjunction with the Met’s Diversity Directorate, looks at practical initiatives to cut back on the number of people who leave the Met. It will be put into effect straightaway and the MPA will receive progress reports every six months.”

The Retention Strategy will monitor the reasons for staff leaving and introduce practical initiatives to cut back the number who leave voluntarily. The main aim is to sustain and improve retention of all Met staff by putting into effect a five point plan which will be evaluated after 12 months.

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