The Metropolitan Police could face further cuts to its workforce if the impending funding settlement from the Home Office is inadequate, officials have warned.
The force has already identified a £20 million budget gap in 2026-27 that they "intend to bridge through non-workforce efficiencies".
But it says that staffing and recruitment changes may be required if an expected funding uplift from the Home Office does not materialise.
The Home Office said the government was committed to a "real terms increase" in police spending power over the next three years.
The chief financial officer at the Met, Dan Worsley, told the London Assembly that if the income does not come through, they would "need to look at where and when we can be more efficient" and the force would have to examine the impact on their ability to recruit "to the levels of attrition in order to protect the workforce".
The force's attrition rate - the percentage of employees who leave the organisation over a specific period - is around 7%, which compares favourably to other forces around the country.
There had already been significant concern around a drop in officer numbers despite a manifesto pledge from Sir Sadiq Khan to increase the number by 1,300 by the end of his current term.
In May 2024, following the last mayoral election, there were 33,766 police officers, but the Met has forecast that by March 2026 the number will have dropped to 31,258.
The mayor's deputy for policing, Kaya Schwartz-Comer, said the Met had "prioritised neighbourhood policing" to make sure the force could effectively carry out its duties, which had resulted in a drop in overall officer numbers.
She said the Met was being flexible, "civilianising officers in the back office" where possible and moving them out to neighbourhoods. She added there was no more "low hanging fruit" that the force could cut.
"We're dealing with a deficit created by the previous government," Ms Comer-Schwartz said.
Last year, the Met was forced to make a number of controversial decisions as it sought to make up its funding gap, including reducing the number of police front counters in the capital.
A Home Office spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it had announced a £1.2 bn increase in funding to police forces this year.
"The chancellor has announced a real terms increase in police spending power over the next three years. As usual, more detail on force funding allocations will be set out at the provisional police settlement."