Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Accepted
Assess implications of maintaining police officer numbers on force efficiency and workforce flexibility.
Recommendation
Police forces have limited flexibility to recruit people with the skills they need. Since the Police Uplift Programme was established in 2019, the government has ringfenced funding on the condition that forces maintain officer numbers, allocating £270 million to forces in 2025–26 via the officer maintenance grant. It has also provided £200 million to deliver an additional 3,000 personnel into neighbourhood policing roles. Consequently, police forces have responded to financial pressures by reducing the number of civilian staff and using police officers in staff roles. Police forces have also found it difficult to recruit and retain specialist staff, which restricts their ability to implement new technologies and respond to the changing nature of crime. Stakeholders have also highlighted that the current workforce mix, skills gaps and poor workforce well-being result in lost capacity and undermine productivity. recommendation The Home Office should work with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to assess the implications of the existing focus on maintaining police officer numbers, including identifying the impact on personnel and the operational efficiency of forces. Within six months, the Home Office should write to the Committee with the results of this assessment, including the options to improve workforce flexibility and the potential benefits for policing.
Government Response Summary
The government states it has assessed the implications of maintaining police officer numbers, concluding that the officer maintenance grant was a barrier to visible policing. As a result, the grant and officer headcount targets will be abolished from April 2026 to improve workforce flexibility and support neighbourhood policing.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented The government has listened to policing’s concerns about the financial and operational impacts of requiring forces to maintain a centrally set number of officers; and have assessed that the Police Officer Maintenance Grant has become a barrier to visible policing, sometimes leading to warranted officers being placed in support functions. As a result, the officer maintenance grant and the requirement to achieve officer headcount targets has been abolished from 1 April 2026. The 2026-27 police funding settlement provides forces with the investment needed to strengthen neighbourhood policing and modernise frontline capability. Overall funding for the policing system in England and Wales will be up to £21.0 billion, an increase of £1.3 billion compared to 2025-26. Of this, total funding to police forces will be up to £18.4 billion, an increase of up to £796 million. As part of that settlement, the government is focused on what officers are doing rather than purely on officer numbers. For 2026-27, the Home Office is introducing a neighbourhood policing grant and has allocated £363 million of ringfenced funding to incentivise forces to grow neighbourhood policing teams towards the aim of 13,000 additional personnel in neighbourhood roles across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament. The expectation is that forces will prioritise redeploying officers from roles where their warranted powers are not required, into neighbourhood policing teams in 2026-27. This moves away from setting total officer headcount targets. Prioritising neighbourhood policing may place some limitations on workforce flexibility which the Home Office will keep under review. Ensuring that policing has the right people and skills to deliver an efficient modern service aligned to current and future demand is important as the Home Office moves forward with our police reforms. The Police Reform White Paper outlines proposals to improve leadership, professional development and create a new national workforce strategy which will support this aim.