‘Settlement still leaves policing under-funded’

16 December 2022

Police Federation Welsh affairs lead Nicky Ryan has warned policing in Wales will still be operating under a hand-to-mouth economy despite expected increases in funding.

Nicky was responding to comments made by policing minister Chris Philp who told BBC Radio Wales there would be a “significant increase” in police spending for 2023/24.

She said the increase in funding was largely being driven by allowing Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to take maximum advantage on what they can raise on the local precept which would effectively see council tax bills rise to pay for policing.

“Once again policing has been awarded a one-year settlement which prevents forces from making proper forward-planning decisions and leaves us working on a sort of hand-to-mouth economy,” she said.

“If we are to tackle crime on a serious, long-term basis we need to prepare for the future and take advantage of procurement economies of scale over multi-year contracts and we are being prevented from doing so. 

“Instead we are being offered a 12-month settlement which in reality is going to be swallowed up  by the day-to-day costs of policing and still leaves us woefully under-funded.”

Nicky Ryan said one-year funding settlements prevented proper planning

Mr Philp told the BBC:  “The increase that policing in Wales will receive, assuming precepts flexibility is used, amounts to £30 million a year across the UK as a whole. Local police forces, via the Police and Crime Commissioners, will be spending an extra £523 million a year so it is a significant increase.

“Of course, in common with families and businesses, the public sector is facing some inflation as well. The inflation the public sector organisations feel is lower than households but they do experience it as well and that is why we are putting more money in to make sure that policing, in common with other public services, can meet that challenge.”

Mr Philp said the Government was also investing in new officers as part of its Operation Uplift.

He said: “In Wales, we have already recruited 850 additional officers over the last two-and-a-half years and we are targeting just over 1,000 on the streets by March next year so the money is being spent effectively, it is delivering a lot of additional officers.

“The police, in common with other organisations, do have to find some modest efficiencies but you would expect any organisation to do that.”

The policing minister defended the 2022 police pay offer and insisted it was in line with private sector awards and played down suggestions that too many officers were leaving the service.

“Police pay is recommended by a national pay board and we followed their recommendations this year,” he said.

Chris Philp said extra funding for policing in Wales was significant

“There was a £1,900 pay rise across the board for policing which equated to about five per cent, roughly similar to pay increases you would see across the private sector, and for police officers on lower salaries - the more newly-joined officers at constable rank - that equated to an 8.8 per cent increase.

“As for people leaving the police, the numbers are actually quite low compared with private sector organisations and, speaking from memory, each year it is approximately six per cent of officers that leave the force and of that six per cent about half are officers who have completed their 30 years’ service and are retiring.”