Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 30
63rd Report - Increasing police productivity
Published 28 Jan 2026
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Increasing police productivity All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Home Office said that it expects the police reform White Paper to start having an impact from 2026–27.86 As part of this, the Home Office said that it will work out implementation plans to establish new arrangements following the abolition of the role of police and crime commissioners.87 The Home Office told us it is also reversing its previous light-touch approach and plans to establish a National Centre of Policing. In doing so, the Home Office will consider how to hold police forces to account and the system of accountability that is needed.88 78 Qq 33-36 79 Q 33; C&AG’s Report, para 1.9 80 Committee of Public Accounts, Financial sustainability of police forces in England and Wales, First Report of Session 2015–16, HC 288, 9 September 2015 81 Qq 12, 61, 63 82 Qq 66, 67 83 C&AG’s Report, para 1.9 84 Qq 7, 8; C&AG’s Report, para 1.13 85 Qq 62, 64, 65 86 Q 29 87 Qq 42-45 88 Qq 121, 123 17
From: Public Accounts Committee, 63rd Report - Increasing police productivity (HC 1239), 28 January 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 7 April 2026 (deadline 28 March 2026).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on every recommendation, marking some as implemented and setting target dates for others.
- On performance data, 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 its plans for public reporting of performance data.
- On officer numbers, the officer maintenance grant and the requirement to achieve officer headcount targets "has been abolished from 1 April 2026". The government adds that prioritising neighbourhood policing "may place some limitations on workforce flexibility" which the Home Office "will keep under review".
- On efficiency savings, the Police Efficiency and Collaboration Programme has "an annual cashable efficiencies target of £354 million by 2028-29". Mandating approaches to policing "will be considered where there is a case to do so".
- On police IT systems, the government gives a target implementation date of December 2029. It says the National Police Service, once established, "will consider these recommendations further then", and that force-level IT updates "must align" with the implementation of force mergers.