Met Police missed recruitment target due to reputation - Sir Mark Rowley

Sir Mark Rowley said a real-terms pay cut of 17% in the past decade was also a factor in terms of the Met's ability to recruit officers

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has told a committee of MPs the force missed its recruitment target "in part" because "the reputation of the organisation at the moment doesn't help".

The Met is the only force in England and Wales to have missed its recruitment target for this year.

It comes as figures released by the government show it has met its 2019 target to recruit 20,000 more officers in England and Wales.

Sir Mark also outlined to the committee progress made with reforms to the force following last month's Casey Review, which exposed significant issues regarding racism, sexism and homophobia.

During the Home Affairs Committee hearing, it was revealed that the Met had missed its recruitment target of 4,557 officers by a figure of 1,089.

Asked why this was the case, Sir Mark told MPs there was a "range of factors", including the force's current reputation and a real-terms pay cut of 17% for Met officers in the past decade.

He added: "We have recruited over the last three years more than 9,000 officers, which is the most, I think, ever in such a short period.

"We haven't hit the target. Obviously we are striving to maintain the quality, that's really important."

In June, the watchdog HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services said problems at the Met had been exacerbated by the number of young and inexperienced recruits in the force.

Diplomatic Protection reforms

In a later discussion about Sir Mark's previous comments, that he had "no powers" to fire police officers, he said he was expecting a decision from Home Secretary Suella Braverman "in the next few weeks" about whether the rules can be changed.

Sir Mark also gave MPs an update on progress in reforming the force's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection unit, which Baroness Casey recommended should be disbanded. She also said all firearms officers should be vetted again.

He told the committee: "We've changed the leadership; a third of the sergeants have changed recently but it's an unusual role.

"Static protection - it hasn't appealed historically to that many officers so we've had a very static workforce which hasn't helped."

He also highlighted a "struggle to recruit as many firearms officers in London as we need across the different commands".

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