Financial sustainability of police forces in England and Wales inquiry
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“The last government reduced funding to Police and Crime Commissioners by £2.3 billion (25%) as part of its plan to reduce the fiscal deficit. Forces have successfully reduced costs since 2010–11, and crime has also reduced. However, this is an incomplete picture. Crime levels are a limited measure as they do not include all types of crime, particularly as forces face increases in more complex risks and threats such as child sexual exploitation. Moreover, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary data on demand for police services from emergency and priority incidents shows that only 22% of incidents that police responded to were crime-related. Police perceive that they have increasingly expanded their role into the space left unoccupied by local government spending reductions, for example, in dealing with antisocial behaviour or welfare-related issues, missing persons, mental health incidents and out-of-hours social care issues. Forces have limited understanding of the demand for services which makes it difficult for forces to transform their services intelligently to live within reduced budgets. This inquiry examines ways for the Home Office, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and the College of Policing to improve information on forces for assessing future police funding, and look to clarify roles and responsibilities within police accountability systems.”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
The Home Office (the Department) is responsible for allocating grants to Police and Crime Commissioners (who decide how much goes to police forces and how much to other crime reduction initiatives); establishing an accountability framework to assure Parliament on the regularity, propriety and value for money of police spending; and intervening if Chief Constables or Commissioners fail to carry out their functions effectively. We are concerned that the Department lacks all the information it needs to know the impact of reductions in funding on police capability at local level. Most police forces lack sufficient information on the current and future demands they face, which is essential for the Department, Commissioners and the police to ensure forces have the right skills and resources and understand the impact of savings measures. There is limited information on the impact of cost reductions made by other government departments on the police’s workload (cost shunting). It is not clear how the structural reforms necessary to make expected further significant savings will be made within the devolved delivery model.
What the government said
No government response is linked to this report.
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 29 June 2015 to its close on 12 May 2016.
- Oral evidence 13 Jul 2015
- Report 18 Sep 2015
What it recommended
The committee's recommendations are not listed here yet. Read them in 1st Report - Financial sustainability of police forces in England and Wales ↗ on parliament.uk.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 13 Jul 2015No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗