Secretary’s support for calls for longer term police funding settlements

10 February 2022

Police Federation demands for the introduction of multi-year financial settlements for policing rather than yearly announcements have received the backing of Suffolk Police Federation secretary Ben Hudson.

The calls for urgent reform come amid criticism of the Government’s 2022/23 funding settlement - which is up £1.1 billion from the previous 12-month period to a total of £16.9 billion but fails to take into account soaring energy costs.

Ben said the existing funding model needed to be replaced with a system that allowed forces to develop long-term plans.

He said: “This year’s budget is up by £1.1 billion but it is very easy to see that so much of that is going to simply be swallowed up by the extra fuel and energy costs that forces are going face and the rising employer National Insurance contributions.

“The Government seems to have failed to take that into account. So forces are going to be struggling to make any meaningful plans for the extra funding.

“The time has come for the Government to bring in multi-year financial settlements rather than these annual funding deals. Police leads need to know that they have sustained funding so they can effectively plan and improve the service they can offer the public.”

Police Federation national vice-chair Ché Donald is leading the calls for reform to the current funding model.

He said: “As the Government announces the 2022/23 funding settlement for policing, the Police Federation of England and Wales continues to call for a more sustainable multi-year settlement, rather than year upon year funding.

“The Government must consider a sustained multi-year funding settlement for policing, which will allow forces to make long-term strategic plans to respond to the changing nature of crime and support communities.

“The ability to plan past the next year will enable forces to achieve better procurement deals and to see overall costs come down.

“Without the ability to search for better deals due to the uncertainty of what is to come year after year, the 2022/23 marginal increase will get lost in the high day to day costs that forces are currently incurring.

“One-year financial settlements do not work and forces shouldn’t have to operate on a ‘hand-to-mouth’ basis.

“Over the last decade, the police service has been hit hard by budget cuts and it needs more than a one-year cash injection to put things right. What is desperately needed is long-term, genuine investment in policing.”