Police in England and Wales are in line for a below-inflation increase in funding next year, according to proposals set out by the Government.
Under the provisional settlement, the Home Office said forces will receive an additional £287 million in cash terms from central government in 2023-24.
It will take overall spending to £17.2 billion – a 3.6% cash increase on the current year, well below the rate of inflation which remains above 10% although it is forecast to fall.
The figure assumes police and crime commissioners in England will take full advantage of their ability to raise the council tax precept to £15, bringing in £349 million.
The Home Office said the settlement would enable it to maintain the 20,000 additional officers the Government has promised.
It provides £1.1 billion towards national policing priorities, including serious violence, county lines and cyber crime while funding for counter-terrorism policing will total over £1 billion.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “It is vital that we continue to invest in the priorities that matter most to our communities, and we must do more to cut crime and restore confidence in our police.
“With over 15,000 additional officers already recruited and thousands more on the way, this package will support our forces to get the basics right and keep communities safe across country.”
The National Police Chiefs’ Council deputy lead for finance, Chief Constable Paul Sandford, said the settlement means forces face “difficult decisions” in the year ahead.
“The additional money going to policing is positive, however due to inflationary pressures there will still be difficult decisions over service delivery, meaning further pressure on already stretched police forces,” he said.
“The level of demand on policing remains high, with a substantial amount of non-crime demand, such as health and social work, that police are required to step into due to an absence of other service provision.
“We recognise that inflation is having a substantial impact on everyone in policing, and we will be working closely with our policing partners ahead of our upcoming submission to the police remuneration review body.”
