Almost 100 extra police officers were recruited in Humberside last year, new figures show

But the plan to boost police ranks has been criticised by the Police Federation of England and Wales for not going far enough following policing cuts over a decade.

Home Office figures show that there were 2,144 police officers in Humberside Police in December, up from 2,058 a year before.

At an increase of 4.2%, this was greater than the average rise of 3.5% across England and Wales’s police forces.

Following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s commitment to invest in police forces and increase officer numbers, the Home Office launched the police uplift programme in April 2020 with the aim of recruiting 20,000 new police officers by March 2023.

In Humberside, the figure has risen by 11.1% since April 2020, meaning 215 more officers – all of which have been recruited via the Home Office’s initiative.

The national increase follows dwindling police officer numbers between 2009 and 2017.

Ché Donald, national vice-chairman of the Police Federation, said: “The current uplift programme to recruit 20,000 additional officers – which is now only halfway there – doesn’t go far enough, as it simply replaces the number of police officers lost during the years of austerity.”

Mr Donald said the force needs “long-term recruitment and sustainable funding”.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Beating crime is the government’s number one priority, that’s why we are putting more police on our streets to keep our communities safe.”

They added it is is on track to recruit 20,000 additional officers by March 2023.