Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Police forces face growing demands from complex crimes and new responsibilities.
Conclusion
Police forces are facing growing demands. This includes an increase in the number of crimes which require more specialist resources to investigate; for example, fraud crimes, sexual offences, and stalking and harassment offences increased from 768,000 cases in 2014–15 (18% of police recorded crime) to 2.1 million cases in 2024–25 (32%).23 Police forces have also absorbed additional responsibilities, such as the XL Bully dog amendment to the Dangerous Dogs Act, and there have been increases in the time that police officers spend in training in response to new regulations.24 In its written submission, West Midlands Police commented that the new XL Bully dog policy will cost the force an additional £400,000 in the coming year.25
Government Response
A response document is linked to this report, dated 7 April 2026. Response attribution to this conclusion has not been verified. Read the response document ↗