Following the Government announcement in July that it is considering a new model of allocating funding to the 43 police forces in England and Wales, the Commons Home Affairs Committee is launching an inquiry into the police funding formula. This inquiry comes shortly after the Public Accounts Committee published a report into the “Financial sustainability of police forces in England and Wales”.
The Home Affairs Select Committee is inviting evidence on the following questions:
- Does the proposed new funding model meet the ambition of being simple and transparent while also ensuring that funding is disbursed equitably?
- Do Police Forces have sufficient understanding of the demand for their services?
- Do you agree with the Home Office’s assessment of the six key drivers of crime indicated in the consultation?
- In the proposed new funding model, are the five proposed sources of indicator data sufficient to capture the drivers of police demand?
- Should the proposed new funding model include indicators of “non-crime demand”? (The Government’s consultation document refers to incidents involving people with mental health issues and child protection as demands on policing have not previously been captured in any funding formula)
- Is the proposed new funding model consistent with the guiding principles
- Principle 4 of the proposed new funding model seeks to promote improved efficiency. Is it possible for the model to take into account efficiencies achieved in previous years?
- What criteria should be used to determine whether the proposed new funding model is introduced in time to determine 2016/17 funding allocations and what are the implications of delaying its implementation?
The Committee has invited views on these and any other matters that may be relevant to the inquiry.
Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “The Government is consulting on a new model for funding police forces which, they say, should be robust, stable, transparent, “future proof”. It is critical that these changes encourage delivery of Government objectives in crime reduction while minimising the “perverse incentives” that have seen under-reporting or re-categorising of crimes in the past. It is important to have a public debate on these objectives so that the formula is fair for all forces across England and Wales.”
Written submissions for this inquiry should submitted online, by noon on Friday 16 October, via this web page.
