Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 12 of the Police reform white paper entitled From Local to National: A New Model for Policing (CP1489), what assessment she has made of the potential merits of decoupling the police allocation formula from overall police officer numbers for each force.

The Government’s Safer Streets Mission sets a clear expectation for policing to deliver safer communities and improved public confidence. An effective, well-supported police service is central to achieving this. That is why forces should have the right resources to tackle crime and keep communities safe.

As announced in the police funding settlement and Police Reform White Paper, we are abolishing arbitrary officer headcounts from 2026-27, and are instead prioritising the introduction of a neighbourhood policing grant. This will ensure that forces are putting uniformed officers out into the community, where people want to see them, fighting crime on our streets.

For 2026-27, the police funding settlement announced that a total of up to £363 million will be available to forces through the neighbourhood policing grant, to support the delivery of an additional 1,750 neighbourhood policing personnel by 31 March 2027.

The Police Reform White Paper also set out our plans for a new Police Workforce Strategy, which will provide the structure and direction needed to modernise the policing workforce at a national level and build a profession fit for the future, while ensuring forces retain the flexibility to meet the specific needs of their local communities.