Diversity in policing is slowly improving, but it has continued along the same trend for the past ten years. Prior to the launch of the Programme in September 2019, almost 32% of police officers were female, and by December 2021 this had increased to 34%.10 The Department told us that 36.9% of all officers recruited in 2019–20 were female but that this had increased to 42.4% for those recruited between April 2020 and December 2021 as a result of the Programme’s efforts. It explained that in L...

Diversity in policing is slowly improving, but it has continued along the same trend for the past ten years. Prior to the launch of the Programme in September 2019, almost 32% of police officers were female, and by December 2021 this had increased to 34%.10 The Department told us that 36.9% of all officers recruited in 2019–20 were female but that this had increased to 42.4% for those recruited between April 2020 and December 2021 as a result of the Programme’s efforts. It explained that in Lancashire, the proportion of officers recruited who were female had exceeded 50%. The Department told us that it had visited the area to see what learnin Type: conclusion | Number: 8 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 5. PAC conclusion: Despite their successes so far, the Department and its partners face a challenging final year to deliver the remainder of the Programme. 5a. PAC recommendation: The Department and its partners should assist forces in monitoring their workforce b