Police Officer Attrition and Recruitment

Scheduled Inductions for FY 2024/2025:

Date Intake
25/03/2024 193 (SPC) – Completed 14/06/24
13/05/2024 119 (SPC)
15/07/2024 207 (SPC)
15/07/2024 55 (Non residential)
02/09/2024 125 (SPC)
04/11/2024 207 (SPC)
04/11/2024 55 (non residential)
13/01/2025 125 (SPC)
10/03/2025 207 (SPC)
10/03/2025 55 (non residential)
Total
1348 officers

Recruitment continues to look at attraction methods and the launch of a new campaign in September 2024 is expected to increase the officer pipeline. A recent Force wide event hosted at our Jackton training facility saw over 2000 potential new applicants attending. This event showcased all aspects of Police Scotland resulting in a positive surge in applications received. The number of applications received by Police Scotland continues to be extremely positive and reflective of the communities we serve across Scotland. The Recruitment team continue to travel to our remote and rural areas of Scotland to assess candidates to ensure there are no barriers in recruiting for all geographical locations. Our Positive Action Team continue to work diligently in engaging with our hard-to-reach communities across Scotland.

Recognising the barriers to a residential training programme at the Scottish Police College and caring demands which may be placed upon potential recruits, July 2024 will see the introduction of a non-residential training course operating from our Jackton facility.

On the 15 July 2024 the new intake will be trained concurrently in two locations for the first time in the history of Scottish policing:

o 207 officers at the Scottish Police College

o 55 officers at the Jackton Training Centre, East Kilbride

The non-residential programme will be delivered by highly experienced staff to the required standard. A full evaluation process will be put in place and should the pilot be successful, it is proposed that such an approach could be delivered in any suitable location across Scotland.
Both courses will culminate in a pass out parade at the Scottish Police College on the conclusion of their initial training programme.

Today (14 June 2024), we have 16,267.3 FTE officers. The graph below shows attrition since January this year. This peaks in April, which may be attributed to the end of the financial year in March. It should also be noted that the current July and August figures will be subject to change in the coming months.

GRAPH

The predictions in the table below are based on leavers patterns demonstrated this year.
Officers continue to leave at an average of 80 per month and are recruited at an average of 370 per quarter which is the current training capacity of the organisation. In order to bring the force back to around 16500 to 16600.

TABLE

As outlined Police Scotland is maximising recruitment opportunities throughout 2024/25, with estimates provided below:
Month FTE
May-24 16277
Aug-24 16290-16320
Nov-24 16425-16450
Mar-25 16475-16500