The Home Office has published the provisional police funding settlement for 2021/22.
HEADLINE FIGURES
The Government is proposing a total police funding settlement of up to £15.8 billion for the policing system in 2021/22. This includes funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (including capital), plus funding for counter-terrorism policing and funding for national priorities.
This is an increase of up to £636 million compared to the 2020/21 funding settlement.
The funding package includes:
- An additional £415 million Government funding to PCCs to drive the recruitment of 20,000 extra officers
- Up to an additional £288 million from council tax precept, subject to decisions by PCCs
- £1.1 billion for national priorities, including police technology
The Government has prioritised funding for Police and Crime Commissioners in this settlement. Overall funding available to PCCs will increase by up to £703 million next year – a 5.4% cash increase on the 2020/21 settlement – if PCCs make full use of their flexibility to increase precept.
POLICE UPLIFT
The Government is committed to delivering an additional 20,000 officers by March 2023.
Latest statistics show that, as of 30 September 2020, almost 6,000 of these officers were already in place.
The public rightly expects that recovering from the pandemic is the Government’s top priority. Setting aside over £400m for the recruitment of another 6,000 officers next year demonstrates our commitment to giving the police the resources they need, while supporting the wider economy.
POLICE PRECEPT
Around two-thirds of funding for PCCs comes directly from Government grants, with around a third coming from a share of council tax – known as police precept.
In 2021/22, we are giving PCCs in England the flexibility to increase local funding by setting a £15 precept limit for a typical Band D property.
If all PCCs take full advantage of this flexibility, it will raise up to an additional £288 million for local forces.
PCCs must consult their local electorate on setting precept and explain how additional investment will deliver a better local police service.
Council Tax policy in Wales is devolved and is a matter for the Welsh Government. The precept limit does not apply there.
COUNTER-TERRORISM POLICING
Counter-terrorism policing is a national priority with ring-fenced funding.
Counter-terrorism policing will receive funding of up to £914 million in 2021/22, including money for armed policing and more officers through the Police Uplift Programme. The total also includes an allocation of £10 million from pensions grant funding.
In addition, counter-terrorism policing will receive £32 million in 2021/22 to establish a new CT Operations Centre to keep the country safe from a range of threats, including terrorism, hostile state activity and organised crime.
NATIONAL PRIORITIES
In 2021/22, £1.1 billion will be provided for national policing programmes and priorities. This includes £39 million to support the recruitment of 20,000 new police officers and £54.8 million in Special Grant funding to contribute to costs of unexpected events and major investigations
This package will also provide funding to tackle serious violence, serious and organised crime at national, regional and local levels, and to expand police capacity to tackle online drivers of violence and build stronger evidence on how to prevent homicides. We are also continuing to invest in violence against women and girls, and the scourge of domestic abuse.
PENSIONS
The funding package includes £152.6 million to help police pay increased pensions costs. Of this, £142.6 million will go directly to PCCs and £10 million to counter-terrorism police and the National Crime Agency.
Change in total direct resource funding compared to 2021/22 [1]
| Police Force Area | 2020/21[2] | 2021/22 | Maximum cash increase |
|
£m |
|||
| Avon & Somerset | 326.2 | 344.0 | 17.8 |
| Bedfordshire | 122.4 | 129.3 | 6.9 |
| Cambridgeshire | 156.0 | 164.5 | 8.5 |
| Cheshire | 207.9 | 219.6 | 11.8 |
| City of London | 66.9 | 71.1 | 4.2 |
| Cleveland | 143.3 | 150.6 | 7.2 |
| Cumbria | 117.7 | 123.7 | 6.0 |
| Derbyshire | 193.7 | 204.3 | 10.5 |
| Devon & Cornwall | 338.1 | 356.8 | 18.7 |
| Dorset | 144.2 | 151.9 | 7.7 |
| Durham | 133.2 | 140.4 | 7.2 |
| Dyfed-Powys | 115.4 | 122.2 | 6.8 |
| Essex | 319.9 | 338.7 | 18.8 |
| Gloucestershire | 126.8 | 133.4 | 6.6 |
| Greater London Authority | 2,936.6 | 3,075.6 | 138.9 |
| Greater Manchester | 642.4 | 677.5 | 35.1 |
| Gwent | 142.0 | 150.1 | 8.1 |
| Hampshire | 366.1 | 387.0 | 21.0 |
| Hertfordshire | 221.1 | 234.1 | 13.0 |
| Humberside | 200.6 | 211.2 | 10.7 |
| Kent | 338.2 | 357.7 | 19.5 |
| Lancashire | 308.5 | 325.5 | 17.0 |
| Leicestershire | 203.8 | 214.7 | 11.0 |
| Lincolnshire | 131.5 | 138.4 | 6.8 |
| Merseyside | 359.3 | 378.6 | 19.3 |
| Norfolk | 177.0 | 186.0 | 9.0 |
| North Wales | 167.0 | 176.4 | 9.4 |
| North Yorkshire | 166.1 | 174.5 | 8.4 |
| Northamptonshire | 146.1 | 153.7 | 7.6 |
| Northumbria | 306.8 | 325.4 | 18.6 |
| Nottinghamshire | 224.6 | 236.7 | 12.1 |
| South Wales | 315.5 | 333.5 | 18.0 |
| South Yorkshire | 281.8 | 297.5 | 15.7 |
| Staffordshire | 210.9 | 222.3 | 11.4 |
| Suffolk | 134.9 | 142.4 | 7.4 |
| Surrey | 249.2 | 262.0 | 12.7 |
| Sussex | 309.6 | 327.7 | 18.1 |
| Thames Valley | 456.3 | 482.4 | 26.1 |
| Warwickshire | 109.7 | 115.7 | 5.9 |
| West Mercia | 236.3 | 249.3 | 13.0 |
| West Midlands | 619.7 | 655.6 | 35.9 |
| West Yorkshire | 484.5 | 511.9 | 27.3 |
| Wiltshire | 127.6 | 134.9 | 7.3 |
| Total England & Wales | 13,085.7 | 13,788.7 | 703.0 |
[[1]] Total resource funding consists of core grant funding, National and International Capital City (NICC) grants, Legacy Council Tax grants, Precept grant, Pensions grant, police precept and ringfenced grant (for £100m in 21/22). Allocations of individual grant streams are set out in tables 3 and 4. Precept figures use actual precept figures for 2020/21, assume that PCCs in England and Wales increase their precept Band D level by £15, and Office of Budget Responsibility forecast tax base increases.
[2] Funding in 2020/21 does not include any additional in-year support provided for Covid-19 and assumes all forces will maximise their ringfenced grant allocation.