PCC warns council taxpayers that the Government are effectively mandating an increase for policing in West Mercia
PCC John Campion has expressed concern that the settlement for police funding has fallen short of the expected amount – yet again placing policing at the bottom of the priority list.
The settlement, announced yesterday (18th December), has left a number of police forces – including West Mercia – with uncertainty, as the full details aren’t expected to be shared until the new year.
Core Government grant funding for policing in West Mercia will increase by £5.1 million (to £174.8m) next year, but the cost of police officers has increased by £19 million (to £178.6m). This is an increase in funding of 2.8%, significantly below the current rate of inflation, which is representing a real terms cut in funding for policing.
This is while the Government is mandating how many police officers West Mercia has and, ever more, the roles they perform. The Government also sets the amount that police officers are paid, with a fully experienced police officer now receiving a salary of more than £50k, plus oncosts (pension and National Insurance contributions) of £26k. The impact of a pay award, from September 2026, is currently estimated to cost £6.6m.
The current Government has continued the trend of its predecessors of incrementally reducing the flexibility of the Chief Constable and PCC to manage West Mercia resources.
During the past 18 months, the PCC and Chief Constable have taken significant steps to reduce the structural cost of West Mercia Police, primarily from the non-police pay budget, seeing 300 civilian roles removed from the organisation. This was based on an expectation of how much funding would be allocated to West Mercia from the totality of the Government funding for policing. Following the announcement, it appears that £200m has been removed from policing creating an unexpected budget pressure of £3.5m.
The PCC is proposing a £15 increase, per year for the average household, however this is not enough.
PCC John Campion said: “To put it simply, my hands are tied. Whilst the Government will claim record uplift of funding for policing, they do not make it clear that it is at the expense of inflation-busting council tax rises, nor keeping pace with the rising cost of police officers.
“It was policer officer pay that caused an issue this year and this is one that we will continue to face unless there is the funding there to support the mandating. I want the Government to understand that, without above inflation annual funding settlements, there is a real risk that we cannot continue to deliver a policing service that the public would expect. That is compounded by the fact we don’t have the full detail to be able to plan effectively.
“As the directly elected PCC, the public rightly expect me to be able to manage the local resources for policing, the Government are stripping me of my ability to do that for our communities. In addition to the local authority’s own tax increases, there is no choice this year, the police element must also rise.
“The Government, as a matter of urgency, need to clarify what funding is available for policing next year so that the Chief Constable and I can make plans to deliver policing in our communities.”
