Yvette Cooper Faces Questions Over Funding for Labor’s 13,000 New Police Officers Pledge

Labor’s commitment to recruiting 13,000 new police officers faced fresh scrutiny as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was questioned on how the government plans to fund the ambitious pledge.

Cooper recently announced an extra £100 million in funding, which she stated would kickstart the recruitment of 1,200 new officers. However, with Labor aiming for 3,000 new police officers, experts have raised concerns over where the rest of the funding will come from, leaving either police forces to make additional savings or the Home Office to provide further cash injections, according to the Express.

Leading Conservatives have argued that the pledge, a key element of Sir Keir Starmer’s upcoming speech, has not been properly financed. Sky News Presenter Kay Burley asked Cooper directly, “How are you going to pay for them?”

Cooper responded: “I’m announcing today an additional £100m new funding to kickstart the recruitment of the new police officers next year. We want the neighbourhood police officers to include the PCSOs and new officers and also to be redeploying officers back onto the beat, because what we’ve seen over the last 14 years is really the decimation of neighbourhood policing.”

Burley continued to press her, pointing out that the £100 million might not be enough to recruit and train the 13,000 neighbourhood officers promised. Cooper explained, “So we’re putting forward next year, an additional £100m for police forces. We also have a major programme around policing efficiency and collaboration across forces that will also generate further savings. This is the plan over the course of this Parliament. That £100m is sufficient to fund recruitment of around 1,200 new police officers. But we’ll be working with police forces on how they actually make the most of that.”

Conservative critics, including Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, highlighted the disparity between Labour’s promises and actual funding. Philp said: “The Conservatives recruited over 20,000 extra police officers and gave the police an extra £922 million for policing this year, ensuring the police could protect the public and prosecute more criminals. Starmer has once again misled the public by claiming to recruit an extra 13,000 officers when the actual number is 3,000, and even that is not properly funded.”

Labour’s pledge to recruit 13,000 police officers, PCSOs, and special constables would restore police numbers to pre-2010 levels. However, the question remains whether the £100 million is enough to meet the full cost of these commitments. Cooper stated that the ultimate goal was to restore neighbourhood policing, which has been severely impacted by previous cuts.

When asked about Sir Keir Starmer’s “reset” plan after five months in office, Cooper said: “The Prime Minister is setting out today the plan for change… Before the election, we set out the big missions for the country. In my area, that was around making the streets safer, around reducing serious violence, and restoring confidence in policing.”