POLICE recruitment has soared in the last year but numbers could be reconsidered.

At the latest North Yorkshire Police corporate performance, delivery and scrutiny board, run by PCC Julia Mulligan and Chief Constable Dave Jones, the idea of workforce modernisation was discussed - which could see the work of Detective Constables in Serious Crime Teams done by civilian staff.

Deputy Chief Constable Lisa Winward said the force’s recruitment plans had changed to reflect its financial position, which had led to the recruitment of 666 new appointments in the last year - about 20 per cent of the force’s total workforce - including 134 officers, 36 PCSOs, 41 specials, 32 volunteers, 23 cadets, 193 permanent staff and 76 temporary staff, 75 agency staff as well as 56 officer promotions.

The meeting heard there had been an “unprecedented amount of people leaving”, but the number of people moving from the special constabulary into the regular force meant the new officers required shorter training periods before taking to the streets.

Going forward, some staff posts could be given designated powers, rather than requiring police officers to carry them out.

Asked whether this workforce modernisation was code for “civilianisation of some posts”, Chief Constable Dave Jones said “it’s not code for anything”.

Mr Jones said that by reassessing how the force works, it could be possible that some roles were already being carried out by partner agencies or new technology, and some roles may not be necessary, but said “generally, it’s usually about civilianisation in its broadest sense”.

Plans revealed to the meeting suggested Detective Constables in the Serious Crime Teams could become Police Staff Investigators, and some PCs could convert to staff roles.

Mr Jones said further planning was needed, but the changes had been under consideration for some time and would continue with all options considered.

Mr Jones said: “When we start doing that work it’s from the ground up so our commitment or our desire around certain numbers is going to have to be interpreted as we do the work going forward.”

Mrs Mulligan said there were “inefficiencies in the organisation” and they needed to be “slicker and more agile”.

“I think there are some inefficiencies in the organisation and I think we need to start really looking at those inefficiencies, because I think we need to be much slicker and more agile.”

“We’ve got a lot of work going on around agility and there are always grumblings about bureaucracy but I think it’s a wider issue than that and I think we need to start to look at some of these things.”