Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted
Fragmented police data hinders understanding of financial risks and impact on productivity.
Recommendation
We asked the Home Office whether it has the data it needs to understand the financial risks facing police forces and the impact that this has on police productivity.9 The Home Office said there are multiple datasets scattered across bodies in the policing system, including police forces. It told us that a single dataset would better enable data sharing, with forces currently sharing data through manual returns, which is slow, resource intensive and means data can be weeks or months old.10 HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) collects data—including on the efficiency of forces—as part of its inspections. It publishes some of this data, but the Home Office told us it does not share all the data it holds.11 The Home Office said it is getting more detailed data and expects data quality to improve as part of its data reforms.12
Government Response Summary
The Home Office will write to the Committee by July 2026 setting out the key metrics it will incorporate in future iterations of the Police Performance Framework, and plans for public reporting of performance data.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
1. PAC conclusion: The Home Office does not have sufficient data on the financial resilience or performance of police forces. 1. PAC recommendation: By July 2026, the Home Office should write to us setting out the key metrics it will use to measure the financial resilience, productivity and performance of police forces. In doing so, it should set out how it will support greater transparency and strengthen accountability by publishing data on the performance of police forces. 1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: July 2026 1.2 The government has now published the first iteration of the Police Performance Framework, as part of wider reforms to the police performance system described in From Local to National: A New Model for Policing, the Police Reform White Paper. The Framework sets out key metrics of police force performance. Analysis and reporting against the 12 framework will enable better assessment of how a force is performing in its delivery of policing priorities. 1.3 The Home Office has committed to developing the Framework iteratively with a specific commitment to incorporate measures of force productivity and financial resilience in future iterations. The Home Office will write to the Committee by July 2026 setting out the key metrics it will incorporate in future iterations and our plans for public reporting of performance data to support greater transparency and strengthen accountability by publishing data on the performance of police forces. 1.4 The Home Office is currently working to improve and standardise the way in which financial information is provided by forces and developing a proposal to build on the Office for National Statistics’ forthcoming update on police productivity to provide a measure of force- level productivity. This work is being undertaken in collaboration with the policing sector and other external experts.