‘Force funding must be considered during review’
20 March 2026
The Government’s failure to include a review of the funding formula when considering the number of forces in England and Wales demonstrates its complete lack of understanding of the issues causing the current crisis in the police service, according to the secretary of West Midlands Police Federation.
Tim Rogers was commenting after the Government this week published its terms of reference for the review of police force structures after its Police Reform White Paper set out plans for force mergers. The review is being undertaken by Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe, a former Metropolitan Police Commissioner.
“Time and time again, the Government is failing to address the fundamental issue that is at the heart of the current crisis in policing,” says Tim, “While the funding formula itself may fall outside the remit of this review, how can Lord Hogan-Howe properly consider the best way forward for the police service without including a review of how forces are to be funded?
“The key to the effective and impactive reform required within policing is increased and sustained funding yet the Government appears to be asking this review to deliver major structural reform without explicitly looking at the way forces are funded through the funding formula. That is a fundamental flaw in this review process.”
White Paper
The Government believes the ‘policing system requires radical re-design’ since it was designed in the 1960s. Based around 43 local police forces across England and Wales, it says it is no longer fit for purpose.
It published the Police Reform White Paper on 26 January 2026, setting out the case for change and the full package of reforms designed to modernise policing across England and Wales.
Aiming to move towards a more efficient policing system, the White Paper committed to launching the independent review of police force structures, which would make recommendations on the optimum number of forces and the most effective implementation.
The review aims to design a new model, built around fewer, larger police forces, to meet the needs of victims and ‘support effective, efficient and accountable policing’ locally and nationally.
Accountability
But Tim says the Government will not deliver the reform it has set out if the funding formula is not central to the review.
“Without proper investment, this review risks just reorganising the existing pressures while also putting effective local policing and accountability under threat,” he explains.
“Let’s also not forget the considerable cost of potential force mergers both in terms of implementing the new infrastructure and the impacts on the workforce during any transition.”
He accepted the need for reform and said there was general support from officers in terms of increased collaboration to bring about consistency and shared technological capability, but once again, adequate funding was required.
“Policing is in crisis. We are struggling to retain officers and we seem to have a constant revolving door that sees us losing experienced officers as fast as we welcome new recruits,” Tim says.
“This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Police officers are 21 per cent worse off in real terms than they were in 2010 with a third struggling to afford food, rent or heating. Each day 86 officers nationwide are assaulted and we are also seeing their mental health being affected too.
“It’s little surprise that officer morale is low, and this will inevitably have an impact on the quality of service they can provide for the communities we serve.
“Before we even begin to look at the number of forces across England and Wales, more needs to be done to ensure that all those officers and staff providing our policing services day in and day out are properly paid, properly supported and properly protected. Only when forces are properly funded through long-term investment will the police service emerge from this current crisis.”
Recommendations
The review, the results of which will be reported later this year, will make recommendations on:
- The most effective number of police forces across England and Wales and their configuration
- How local policing can be optimised through Local Policing Areas (LPAs) in the new model
- How new governance arrangements (Policing and Crime Boards) should operate within larger forces
- How a move to significantly fewer forces should be delivered to minimise operational disruption, maintain best practice and ensure delivery costs can be minimised and offset through efficiencies in later years
- Which forces are best suited to form part of pathfinder mergers this Parliament, in advance of the full merger programme.
