This Government has announced the police funding settlement for 2020/21, which sets out the biggest increase in funding for the policing system since 2010.
We are giving forces £700 million for the recruitment of 6,000 additional officers by the end of March 2021, which represents an increase of almost 10% on top of the core grant funding provided last year. Assuming full take up of precept flexibility, overall funding for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) will increase by £915 million to £13.1 billion next year.
This Government is determined to strengthen our police service and tackle the level of crime, particularly violent crime, across our country. Having already recruited the first of the 20,000 additional officers, this Government is sending a clear message that it is delivering on the people's priorities and keeping our streets safe.
This settlement gives the police the investment they need to deliver on that promise. Taking all funding from the Government and PCCs’ precept raising power into account, up to an extra £1.1 billion will be available for investment in policing in 2020/21. Force level allocations are included as an annex to this letter.
This breaks down as follows:
• £700 million uplift to core grant. £168m of the £700m core grant increase will be ringfenced and paid in arrears on a quarterly basis subject to progress on the officer uplift. This £168m will be made available to reimburse forces for qualifying costs to be agreed between forces, the Home Office and HM Treasury. The total amount available to forces under the ringfence will be determined in line with funding formula shares.
• £90 million year-on-year increase in funding for counter-terrorism policing. This includes an allocation of £10 million from pensions grant funding that was announced at the 2019/20 police funding settlement and is not included in the total increase in police funding.
• £1.4 million increase to council tax grants.
• We are enabling Police and Crime Commissioners to increase precept by up to £10 for a Band D equivalent property, which, if all PCCs in England use in full, will raise up to £248 million additional funding for local priorities.
• £126 million increase in funding for national priorities, including £50 million to support the Police Uplift Programme and additional funding to tackle serious and organised crime including county lines and serious violence. This includes £34.6 million being reprioritised from Capital Main Grant to national priorities (see below).
• The continuation of the £143 million pensions grant.
The full Police Grant Report 2020/21 will be available online, alongside the Minister of State for Crime, Policing and the Fire Service’s Written Ministerial Statement. The Police Grant Report is subject to Parliamentary scrutiny and we expect the debate and vote to take place in February.
National priorities
Alongside the increased investment we have set out above, the Government is also investing in national policing priorities which benefit all police forces across the country, including:
• Over £200 million in 2020/21 to fight serious and organised crime, including the National Crime Agency top up and funding new capabilities to tackle illicit finance and funding for Regional Organised Crime Units.
• £50 million to deliver the Police Uplift Programme, including a joint Government and sector programme team, the national recruitment campaign, Police Now training and recruitment, and enhanced College of Policing support structures.
• £516 million to improve police technology in 2020/21, which will upgrade critical infrastructure such as replacing the Airwave communication system with the 4G Emergency Services Network. This will also fund the development of the Law Enforcement Data Service, which will provide an integrated service to provide intelligence to law enforcement and its partners and replace the existing Police National Computer and Police National Database. The National ANPR Service (NAS) will replace the existing National ANPR Data centre NADC, this will standardise the approach and provide analytics on vehicle movements and ensure single source. Home Office Biometrics continues to deliver the continuation, convergence and enhancement on facial recognition and matcher.
Efficiency
The funding settlement also sets out four priority areas to drive efficiency, productivity and effectiveness next year including efficiency savings through joint procurement, enhance productivity using technological solutions, achieving best value on police technology spending and ensuring forces meet their recruitment targets for 2020/21.
This generous settlement shows the enormous priority this Government places on keeping the public safe and fighting all aspects of crime. We want to again put on record our admiration and appreciation of you and your officers for the work you do to keep our communities safe. I am also grateful for the engagement we have had with policing at all levels to build a picture of the changing nature of the demands placed upon you and the capabilities you need to respond robustly to those challenges. We know that crime is ever shifting, becoming more complex, and that you are facing increasing demands on your resources, and we are addressing this through the police settlement.