TODAY'S announcement of a boost in police recruitment comes as no surprise. The Government revealed back in December that its £7 million Could You? campaign was working. Television adverts featuring celebrity endorsements of the police prompted more than 400 people to express an interest in a police career in North Yorkshire alone.

Then in January, ministers announced that there had been a year-on-year increase in police recruits of 74 per cent. And today, just to make certain that we have got the message, Jack Straw said that around 7,000 recruits began police training college in 2000-01, an increase of 77 per cent.

We can hardly blame the Home Secretary for making a meal of his good news. Having pledged to increase police numbers, he has overseen the precise opposite. It has been one of New Labour's most public failures.

Mr Straw's response was to throw cash at the problem - the £450 million Crime Fighting Fund. That level of spending must reap quick results. So far, so good.

The North Yorkshire force has long been denied a fair number of officers by a warped Whitehall funding formula. But Chief Constable David Kenworthy has worked to change that. He has improved force efficiency and lobbied ministers hard. His efforts were rewarded last month with £3 million of extra funding, equating to 60 new officers.

Taken together, these developments give genuine cause for optimism. But a boom in recruitment alone is not enough.

North Yorkshire, in common with other forces, has lost too many experienced policemen and women to sickness or suspension. Paperwork and politics have sapped the morale of many remaining officers.

The new recruits must be retained if this situation is to improve in the long-term. So it is essential that ministers act to free the police to concentrate on their key roles: protecting the public and fighting crime.

Updated: 10:22 Monday, April 23, 2001