Funding boost will bring around 300 neighbourhood officers

15 April 2025

Almost 300 extra police officers will be recruited into neighbourhood policing roles after a £12.2 million funding boost from the Government.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced details of the 2025/2026 funding for the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee in the first stage of a four-year programme to bring 13,000 extra neighbourhood police officers, PCSOs and Specials by the end of this Parliament.

West Midlands Police’s allocation, which is based on the Police Funding Formula, will allow for projected growth over the coming year of 289 police officers and 20 PCSOs.

“We welcome this Government investment in neighbourhood policing,” says Tim Rogers, secretary of West Midlands Police Federation.

“When the austerity measures first began to take hold in 2010, the Federation spoke out saying that the cuts to police budgets would have consequences for policing.

“At the time, we were told we were crying wolf and scaremongering, but I think the evidence proves otherwise. You cannot do more with less. The demand placed on police officers increased just as their numbers fell. All areas of policing suffered, but neighbourhood policing was particularly hard hit.

Communities

“This funding will help us restore the visible policing presence we know our communities value and we will be able once again to build effective relationships with those communities.

“But Force leaders must ensure that dedicated neighbourhood officers are not drawn away from those communities to be pulled into other areas of high demand, such as response, and this is something we will be monitoring.”

As part of the Government’s plans, every neighbourhood in England and Wales will have dedicated teams spending their time on the beat, with guaranteed police patrols in town centres and other hotspot areas at peak times such as Friday and Saturday nights.

Communities will have named, contactable officers to tackle the issues facing their communities.

There will also be a dedicated anti-social behaviour lead in every force, working with residents and businesses to develop tailored action plans.

Home Secretary

Speaking last week, the Home Secretary said: “The heartbeat of our Great British policing tradition is seeing bobbies on the beat, but for too long, too many communities have been feeling abandoned as crime soared and neighbourhood police disappeared, even when local crimes like shop theft, street theft or blatant drug dealing rose sharply.

“That’s why this Government is determined to get police back on the beat and into our town centres.

“It should not matter where you live – everyone deserves local, visible policing they can trust, and with our Plan for Change and Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee we will tackle this postcode lottery and restore policing to our communities.”

Through the Crime and Policing Bill, officers are also set be given new powers. Respect Orders will aim to help police clamp down on persistent anti-social behaviour and give them the power to seize vehicles that cause havoc to communities.

The bill will also scrap the effective immunity of theft of goods below £200 and help police go after phone thieves by removing the warrant to search properties where stolen items have been electronically geolocated.