Today's policing settlement is better than last year but does not fully meet the level of investment identified as necessary

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Finance, Chief Constable Dave Thompson said:

“Decisions about police funding rightly rest with politicians.  Police leaders have a responsibility to provide evidence so that politicians can make informed decisions understanding the impact of different choices.  Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners jointly provided such an assessment earlier this year.

“With an unprecedented terror threat, rising crime and increasingly complex demand, we said that extra investment in policing was required.

“While today’s announcement does not fully meet the level of investment that we identified as necessary, it is a better settlement than last year.  It offers greater certainty over the next two years and gives us more resilience to respond to rising demand and sustain current policing services – as long as Police and Crime Commissioners increase the council tax precept to the maximum.  The settlement recognises the need for further work to make savings, increase productivity and carefully manage major Home Office technology programmes.

“While the extra funding to tackle terrorism is welcomed, counter-terrorism policing are considering tough choices as their settlement equates to a less than two per cent increase on current spending at a time when demand has grown by 30 per cent and investment is needed to fulfil recommendations following the London and Manchester terrorist attacks this year.

“We appreciate the engagement of the Home Office and the Policing Minister in this process. We share the Government’s ambitions to improve our digital capabilities and collaborate on transformation projects and look forward to working together to realise them.”