Finance

OPINION: As the police service in the UK waits for the recommendations of the Police Remuneration Review Body regarding the pay settlement for 2023-24, British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi sets out why it’s crucial that the underpayment of police must stop – and that government support is essential if a ‘positive’ settlement is confirmed.

ANALYSIS: It’s long been argued that the police funding formula in England and Wales, which relies mainly on a combination of central government grant and locally set precept, is in need of reform, and fails to recognise the areas of greatest need; Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett looks at the increasing dependence on the precept, the challenges around deprivation, and whether politicians are really willing to tackle a funding conundrum that has no comfortable fix.

FEATURE: The UK’s continuing participation in the Horizon Europe research programme – a scheme that has funded a number of innovative policing and security research projects – has been in some doubt, with the funding guarantee due to end on 31 March; but the Government has now confirmed a further extension of the guarantee until the end of June 2023, with more news on the UK’s continuing engagement in the programme due soon, as Policing Insight’s Andy Staniforth reports.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: “We’re now seeing cases move in hours instead of weeks and months.” Axon is accelerating justice as Scotland’s Digital Evidence Sharing Capability system will now allow police, lawyers & courts access to a unified database nationally, reducing burdens on victims and freeing up officer time to focus on frontline police work.

ANALYSIS: With funding for policing increasingly under pressure, and many forces fighting for a greater allocation, Policing Insight’s Michael Hardiman, a former economist with Victoria Police in Australia, looks at how greater analysis and use of socio-economic data alongside crime rates and officer levels can help forces in England and Wales facing some of the toughest challenges to quantify their need and compete for increased funding.

ANALYSIS: A key element of many of the 2020 policing protests was the call to defund police and reinvest more heavily in community spending and solutions, but two years on, policing budgets have continued to increase across Canada; Concordia University Associate Professor Ted Rutland looks at how and why spending has increased, and what progress has been made on investing in non-police responses.

ANALYSIS: As the conversation turns again to probable funding cuts to UK public services, Open University Visiting Fellow Justin Partridge and University of Southampton lecturer Fatema Zaghloul examine whether increased and sustained austerity will lead to a greater willingness to collaborate and assist in driving efficiencies, or if collaboration will become another casualty of austerity as hard-pressed organisations simply retrench their focus to internal matters?

INTERVIEW: West Midlands Police Chief Constable Sir Dave Thompson retires next month, after more than 32 years in the service; ahead of his last National Police Chiefs’ Council conference this week, he spoke to Policing Insight’s Keith Potter about the impact of fresh financial cuts on policing, the importance of chief officers using their voice, and the dangers of policing being used as a ‘football in the culture wars’.

OPINION: Amid the current UK political chaos, one clearly emerging scenario is that further public spending cuts are now probable, with policing likely to be back in the firing line; Tom Gash, Managing Director of strategy consultancy Leapwise and former Director of Research at the Institute for Government, looks at how policing can navigate this harsh reality, and the current window of opportunity to prepare a case for protection from cuts and drive productivity improvements locally and nationally.

ANALYSIS: With rising inflation, the continuing increase in energy costs, global supply chains under pressure and a cost-of-living crisis, funding for policing and the wider UK public sector remains extremely challenging; Charlotte Radford, Police Advisor for the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), believes there’s a real threat of further cuts to an already over-stretched back office staff – and effective long-term financial planning will be crucial.

FEATURE: With the cyber threat growing continuously and becoming increasingly aggressive, law enforcement and public authorities will need to raise their investment and expertise in tackling cyber criminals; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports on the latest funding available from the EU to support improvements in digital investigation tools, techniques, and technologies.

ANALYSIS: With police budgets under pressure as countries around the world face the prospect of recession, and the worsening economic situation likely to drive an increase in crime, the relationship between policing and the private sector will be more important than ever; Policing Insight’s Michael Hardiman, a former economist with Australia’s Victoria Police, looks at the challenges posed by the economic pressures, and opportunities arising from them.

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ANALYSIS: With policing resources under continuing pressure, the 2022/23 financial year is now underway, prompting renewed focus on how police forces are funded across the UK; in this second of two articles, Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett focuses on the income raised locally by the forces of England and Wales through the policing precept.

ANALYSIS: With policing resources under continuing pressure, the 2022/23 financial year is now underway, prompting renewed focus on how police forces are funded across the UK. In this first of two articles focusing on police funding, Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett reviews the core funding streams from the respective central and devolved governments, and explores why some forces and communities feel unfairly treated.

OPINION: UK policing budgets remain under pressure, and spend on IT often takes the hit; but Simon Hall, CEO of police digital mobility platform PoliceBox, believes that approaching expenditure on Software-as-a-Service and cloud platforms as an operational rather than capital cost could overcome the budget barriers while also improving forces’ technological capabilities.

ANALYSIS: The Institute for Government’s (IfG) recently published Performance Tracker has highlighted the huge pressures faced by the UK’s public services during the pandemic, and policing was no exception; IfG Research Assistant Anoushka Kavanagh looks at the impact of Covid on police performance and activity, as well as the challenges that still remain, and what the latest Spending Review will mean for the service.

ANALYSIS: Devon and Cornwall Police recently announced a scheme to pay volunteer special constables an enhanced allowance for completing a minimum number of hours; Policing Insight’s Ian Wiggett explores whether this could be the first step towards establishing a paid policing reserve, and how other services ensure they can call on vital added experience in times of greatest need.

OPINION: The launch of the Government's Serious Violence Strategy in 2018 was overshadowed by leaked Home Office documents suggesting police cuts contributed to the rise in violent crime; almost three years later, and after a lengthy legal battle, the Home Office has finally released those documents, as former BBC Home Affairs Correspondent Danny Shaw explains.

OPINION: Even before COVID-19, the next UK Comprehensive Spending Review was set to be a crucial moment for police funding; but as West Midlands Chief Constable Dave Thompson QPM explains, the future of policing is about much more than budgets, with greater accountability, improved public trust and a clearer understanding of local delivery among the key issues.

OPINION: The debate over whether police forces should be ‘defunded’ – or funding reallocated to alternative community resources – has continued on both sides of the Atlantic; police ethics adviser Montell Neufville believes it’s important to understand the existing police and community criminal justice funding landscape, before considering the alternatives.

ANALYSIS: For the final article in our series on police workforce numbers in England & Wales, Ian Wiggett revisits his first article, which forecast likely officer numbers for each force in 2023, to take into account data just published by the Home Office that clarifies the calculations used to measure progress in recruiting the planned 20,000 uplift in officers.

Analysis: In the fourth article of our series looking at police workforce numbers in England and Wales, Ian Wiggett examines the current police funding formula and how it increases disparity between forces, impacting decisions, including recruitment.