£200 million boost to police funding is welcomed

13 February 2025

A Government commitment to investing £2 million in the police service to help ensure extra ‘personnel’ can be recruited has been welcomed by the chair of West Mercia Police Federation.

Steve Butler was speaking after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced earlier this month that December’s provisional £100 million police funding commitment had been doubled.

“We are, of course, pleased to see that funding has been increased to £200 million but, as ever, the devil will be in the detail. We will have to see how police chiefs choose to use the extra funding to increase visible patrols but there are a number of questions for me,” says Steve.

“How much of that money will be allocated to recruiting, training and retaining police officers, who are the cornerstone of the police service? Will police leaders prefer to take on more police staff if they are unsure if this funding is going to be sustained? Is this just a one-off funding boost or will the Government commit to the long-term investment that the police service needs?

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

“As a Federation, we are hoping that more is going to be done not just to recruit extra officers but also to retain them. We cannot have a revolving door whereby as fast as we take on new recruits through one door, we lose highly trained and experienced officers through another. This is a key challenge not just for our force but throughout the country.” 

Under the police funding settlement, West Mercia will get a funding uplift of 6.5 per cent, while the increase nationwide is 6.6 per cent.

Major investment

Announcing the £200 million cash injection, Ms Cooper said: “This major investment marks a turning point for policing in this country. By doubling extra neighbourhood funding to £200 million, we are giving forces across the country what they need to put more officers and PCSOs [police community support officers] where they’re needed most – on our streets and in our town centres.

“Every neighbourhood deserves dedicated officers who know their patch, understand residents’ concerns and can tackle problems before they escalate. This investment, alongside new powers we are bringing into law, will help prevent crime and protect our communities, which is at the heart of our Plan for Change.

“Restoring local policing will not happen overnight, but this funding boost will get more officers into our town centres and rural areas. Forces across England and Wales will be able to boost their local policing teams with this investment, scheduled for [the] next financial year. Each force will set out their plans to Government by early spring, showing how they’ll use their allocation to increase visible patrols.”

The Home Secretary said rebuilding local, visible policing would be supported by the Government’s new Police Standards and Performance Improvement Unit and pledged to continue to help forces to protect officer numbers.
The Government believes the funding will strengthen local crime prevention and community safety. Under the key aims of its Plan for Change, every neighbourhood will have a named, contactable officer, helping to restore the local knowledge and presence it believes effective neighbourhood policing demands.

Budget cuts

Steve said the Government’s aims are laudable but that it would take policing a long time to rebuild after years of budget cuts decimated police officer numbers at a time when demand, and the complexity of crime, intensified.

“In March 2009, ahead of the police budget cuts brought in by the Conservative Government through its austerity measures, West Mercia had 2,471 police officers and by 2018 our officer numbers had fallen to 1,922,” Steve explained.

“We have now increased our total headcount so that at the end of September 2024 we had 2,524 officers, bucking the national trend since many other forces saw their numbers slightly. But, you have to look behind the figures a little too.

“In the 15 years between 2009 and 2024, we have gained just over 50 officers and yet demand has increased incredibly in that time. It’s not just the volume of crime we are dealing with but also the changing nature of crime. We have also become the service of first and last resort, stepping in where other agencies cannot cope and often dealing with all society’s ills.

Government

“The police service plays a unique role in society but all too often is not valued by the Government, or the public. Media headlines would have you believe otherwise, but police officers are working hard, day in, day out, serving and protecting their communities, keeping the peace, fighting and preventing crime and keeping the peace, often putting their lives on the line in carrying out their duties.

“As such, the Government of the day must prioritise investment in the police service and in police officers and staff for the benefit not just of the service itself and those who work in it but also for the communities we serve. We hope this increased funding is sustained.”

Total funding to police forces across the country will be up to £17.5 billion next year, an increase of up to £1.1 bn compared to the 2024 to 2025 police funding settlement. This includes extra funding to support the costs of pay awards, the increase in the employer National Insurance contributions and funding for officer maintenance.

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