The Conservative Government is failing to deliver the promised 259 more police officers for Surrey. 

Analysis of Home Office statistics by the Liberal Democrats has shown that a total of 155 extra officers have been recruited by Surrey Police under the Government's uplift programme that started in September 2019.

It also reveals that Surrey Police has not recruited any new officers under the campaign in the last three months - much fewer than is needed to meet the Conservatives' pledge of 20,000 more officers nationwide by March 2023.

To meet the Conservatives' own target of 259 by March 2023, that rate would have to increase to 12 per month over the final nine months of the programme.

Guildford Liberal Democrats have slammed the government for failing to keep their promise to communities, adding that there needs to be a return to full and proper community policing.

Responding to the figures, Zöe Franklin, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary for Guildford constituency, said:

"People across Guildford and Cranleigh - and Surrey as a whole - are being let down and taken for granted by this Conservative Government. With so many local crimes going unsolved, we desperately need more police on our streets and in our communities. Ultimately people want to feel safe and know that the police will be there for them when they need them.

"Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing, where officers are visible, trusted and known personally to local people."

"The Conservatives' pledge to boost police officer numbers looks set to become yet another of their broken promises. They are letting down victims of crime and our communities right across our area."

END

Notes to Editors

The 'Police officer uplift, quarterly update to June 2022', published today by the Home Office, is available here. The number of additional officers recruited under the Government's uplift programme for each force is in Table U2.