Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the baseline figure is that the recruitment of additional neighbourhood police officers will be benchmarked against.

The Government is committed to ensuring police forces are supported to tackle crime effectively and protect the communities they serve. We are clear that visible policing is essential to restoring public confidence in the police.

As such, total funding of the £17.6 billion allocated to police forces win 2025/26, an increase of up to £1.2 billion compared to the 2024-25 police funding settlement – a significant increase, and more than the increase last year. This equates to a 7.1% cash increase, and 4.6% real terms increase in funding. This includes funding to support the costs of the 24-25 pay award, the increase in the employer national insurance contributions, funding for officer maintenance and an additional £200 million to kickstart the first phase of 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles. A total of up to £376.8 million has been allocated to support of police officer numbers in England and Wales in 2025-26.

The Government expects forces to use the resources available to them effectively, to tackle crime and protect the public. Forces are operationally independent; therefore, it is for Chief Constables and directly elected PCCs, and Mayors with PCC functions to make operational decisions based on their local knowledge and experience. Robust workforce plans will ensure forces can continue to manage budgets whilst maintaining officer numbers and effectively deploying resources to serve and support communities.