Services misses direct entry target by more than half

THE service has recruited less than half the number of direct entry applicants in its target, it was revealed last month.

The Home Office had originally planned to draft 20 people into managerial positions after just 18 months training through the direct entry process – rather than candidates having to work their way through the ranks.

But so far just seven candidates have made it to the interview stage of this year’s recruitment process. 

Only 13 candidates who made it through the same stage in 2014 remain in the process.

Sara Thornton (pictured), former Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, directed last year’s national assessment centre.

This year the force failed to find any suitable candidates to pass on to the same centre.

The force received a total of 20 applicants this year. Five people were invited to interview and four people attended, though none were successful, according to the PoliceOracle.Com website.

A force spokeswoman confirmed that the force wants to continue its involvement in the process in future in order to bring “more people from diverse backgrounds and different perspectives in to policing”.

She was unsure if the force spent any of its own money on advertising the process.

The lack of success within the scene has led to some dismissing it as an “expensive distraction”.

Academic and former chief constable Peter Neyroud said alternative schemes such as the graduate PC-recruiting Police Now were far better ideas. He told PoliceOracle.com he would like to see senior officers being bolder about promoting rapidly from within if the talent was there.

He said: “The [direct entry] scheme does look like a rather expensive distraction.

“As the economy seems to be slightly more productive at the moment, demand from other sectors for high quality graduates is going to make policing decreasingly attractive.

“A lot of the rhetoric of government is anti public service, so they might want to reflect on that too.

“If the money is in banking and business, it’s not surprising the number [of direct entry candidates] is down. This is another reason for growing your own – picking people who have committed to the organisation from a longer period of time.”

However, Home Secretary Theresa May has repeatedly said she wants the police service to go “further and faster” with the process. The costs of the training are borne by the Home Office rather than individual forces.