Recruitment freeze leaves thousands waiting to join

Several forces have announced a recruitment freeze, with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) delaying the start date of 2,000 successful applicants.

The force is believed to have made the decisions because of the “current economic position”.
Other forces in England and Wales have admitted a similar situation.

A spokesman for the MPS said the force was in the process of deciding what the next step would be for the applicants who have not yet completed police training.

“We have around 2,000 candidates in the system waiting for a start date. This is due to a number of very successful recruitment campaigns last year, coupled with far fewer officers leaving than expected, largely due to the current economic position,” the spokesman said.

“This has left us with more candidates than vacancies, which is not what we predicted when we embarked on our campaign.”

The MPS is among several forces reviewing their recruitment plans.

Peter Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said he had some sympathy for the force but it was an “unfortunate situation” for those having to wait.

West Midlands Police currently has 240 applicants, who have passed all stages of the recruitment process, waiting for a job, while a further 500 are being assessed.

Greater Manchester Police is implementing a complete freeze on recruitment from April this year.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary said that although it still has vacancies, “for the foreseeable future” these will be open only to people who have previously applied.

Cleveland Police said that although it has a waiting list of 102 successful recruits waiting to be placed, this was normal and not due to economic constraints.

North Yorkshire Police is opening recruitment for a limited time only.