Accredited official statistics

Police funding for England and Wales 2015 to 2025

Published 8 August 2024

Applies to England and Wales

Frequency of release: Annual

Forthcoming releases: Home Office statistics release calendar

Home Office responsible statistician: Jodie Hargreaves

Press enquiries: 0300 123 3535

Public enquiries: policingstatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk

Privacy information notice

Introduction

This release contains information on agreed funding for policing in England and Wales between the financial years ending 31 March 2016 and March 2025. Chapter 3 also contains high level information on funding back to the financial year ending 31 March 2011. The majority of the information contained in this release relates to funding that has previously been announced publicly through a range of government announcements, ministerial statements and official statistics. This publication intends to bring this information together into a single coherent statistical release.

Key findings

For the financial year ending 31 March 2025:

• up to £18,662 million in funding for policing in England and Wales has been agreed
• overall agreed funding will increase by up to £1,030 million (5.8%) compared with the previous financial year, in nominal terms
• total funding for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) (including government funding and Council Tax precept), will increase in nominal terms by up to £1,140 million (7.4%), when compared with the previous financial year
• in real terms (adjusted for inflation), overall agreed funding will increase by up to £889 million (5.0%) compared with the previous year
• overall agreed funding for the financial year ending March 2025 will increase by up to £3,010 million (19.2%) in real terms compared with the financial year ending March 2016

Note: Separate to these annual statistics, the Home Office typically makes year-on-year comparisons between each annual police funding settlement. Due to a difference in scope, such as the inclusion of funding outside of the police funding settlement in these statistics (for example, additional Serious Violence funding), figures will not match the police funding settlement exactly. The police funding settlement (announced in December 2023) showed that in the financial year ending 31 March 2025, funding would increase by up to £842.9 million compared with the previous year, bringing overall funding up to £18,413 million. More information on how to reconcile between figures in these statistics and the latest police funding settlement can be found in Annex A of this bulletin.

1. Introduction

1.1 General introduction

The overall sum of government funding for policing is set at spending reviews (where the government determines how it will fund public services over several years), whilst the detail is outlined and agreed annually. The majority of public funding for police forces in England and Wales is provided by the Home Office and is agreed by the House of Commons on an annual basis at the police funding settlement.

Each year the Home Office produces a police grant report which is published and voted on by Parliament and contains grant funding allocations for the following year to be paid out under the Police Act 1996. The Home Office accompanies publication of the police grant report with a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS), providing context and further information on funding not set out through the police grant report, such as Council Tax precept and direct funding for national policing priorities.

The funding set out in the WMS and the police grant report is collectively referred to as the police funding settlement. A collection of previous WMS and police grant reports can be found on the GOV.UK website.

In addition to central government funding, PCCs set a local police precept which is part of Council Tax, based on principles set out by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) (for English forces) and the Welsh Government (for Welsh forces) (further information can be found in Chapter 2.2). As a proportion of total funding to PCCs police precept accounts for around 34% and is paid directly by local taxpayers. However, this proportion varies considerably by individual police forces. Breakdowns by Police Force Area (PFA) can be found in Table 4a of the accompanying data tables.

This publication contains analysis of published figures from the police funding settlement, additional funding for Serious Violence agreed outside of the settlement^{[footnote 1]}, additional funding for the police pay award agreed outside of the police funding settlement and Council Tax precept figures.

Figures are presented in both nominal terms (not adjusted for inflation) and real terms (adjusted for inflation using published Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflators). In addition to the funding presented in this publication, PCCs also receive income from other sources (further information can be found in chapter 2.2 of the user guide); therefore, the funding considered here does not constitute the whole budget for policing either in a particular PFA, policing body or overall.

Overall funding is used throughout this publication to refer to the total funding (government funding agreed in the police funding settlement, Council Tax precept, additional Serious Violence and pay award funding) set out in this publication. The term ‘overall funding’ used throughout this publication does not include sources of funding that are outside the scope of this publication as outlined previously.

The statistics in this publication reflect the amount of funding budgeted, and therefore do not reflect the actual amount of money spent by the government on policing, or by a particular police force, in any given financial year. For example, since the year ending 31 March 2020, the previous government provided a ring-fenced grant to support the recruitment and maintenance of an additional 20,000 police officers, with PCCs able to access this as they demonstrate maintenance of the 20,000 additional police officers. The term ‘up to’ is therefore used when referring to government funding to PCCs to reflect that this is the amount that PCCs will receive if they meet the conditions of the ring-fenced grant. Further information about the ringfenced grant is included in Chapter 2.2.

This publication contains detailed statistics from the financial year ending March 2016 onwards, while overall funding statistics are provided back to the financial year ending March 2011. Due to significant changes in the structure of police funding and policing in the financial year ending March 2016, it is difficult to make direct comparisons between current police funding figures, and those in the years prior to the financial year ending March 2016. Further information can be found in Annex B of the accompanying user guide.

See the accompanying user guide for more information about the scope of this publication, definitions, and quality considerations.

1.2 Nominal and real terms analysis

Following user feedback received as a part of the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) accredited official statistics assessment, real terms comparisons (adjusted for inflation) were included from the July 2021 publication onwards. Calculations have been carried out using GDP deflators, published quarterly by HM Treasury.

Nominal terms funding is the cash value and does not account for inflation; while real terms funding, which accounts for inflation, uses GDP deflators to present funding in 2024 to 2025 prices. Throughout this release, funding is labelled to make clear where nominal and real terms values have been used.

As police funding statistics are forward looking, the GDP deflators used are based on Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts of the GDP deflator for the budget year. The GDP deflators used in this publication reflect the most up-to-date data available at time of publication (the June 2024 deflators published in July 2024). Real terms police funding figures will not be revised based on quarterly changes to GDP deflators, so users should ensure they are using the most appropriate deflator. This is particularly significant where there is likely to be unusual levels of volatility in the OBR forecasts of GDP deflators, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1.3 Accredited Official Statistics status

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) the regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) in July 2021. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘Accredited Official Statistics’.

Further information about accredited official statistics can be found on the OSR’s website.

1.4 Accountability statement

Our statistical practice is regulated by the OSR which sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly via policingstatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

1.5 User engagement survey

To expand on the work started as part of the OSR assessment of these statistics, we have launched a user engagement survey to help shape future publications of these statistics.

We want to identify users and uses of the data as well as provide a chance for users to give their suggestions on how the publication can better meet their needs. Whilst the survey will be anonymous by default, we encourage regular users who are interested in establishing an ongoing dialogue with the Home Office to provide their contact details when prompted, as this will help develop the statistics and our user engagement plan. For more information on user engagement can be found in Chapter 4 of the user guide.

2. Overall agreed funding for policing since the financial year ending 31 March 2016

2.1 Overall agreed funding for policing in the financial year ending 31 March 2025 (nominal terms)

For the financial year ending 31 March 2025, an allocation of up to £18,662 million has been agreed in funding for policing in England and Wales. This represents an increase of up to £1,030 million (5.8%) compared with the previous year, in nominal terms.

This total consists of both police resource and capital funding. Resource funding includes government funding to PCCs; police precept; funding for national priorities (including additional serious violence funding from the year ending 31 March 2020 onwards); and counter-terrorism police funding. Capital funding includes further funding for national priorities, including technology programmes, and, up until the financial year ending 31 March 2022, it also included a capital grant for PCCs. Figure 2.1 below shows the funding for each of these areas for the financial year ending 31 March 2025.

Figure 2.1: Overall agreed annual funding (£ billion) for policing, financial year ending 31 March 2025 (nominal terms)

Source: Home Office, ‘Police funding for England and Wales, 2015 to 2025: data tables’; Table 1a

Notes:

1. Numbers (1) to (5) in the legend correspond to lines marked (1) to (5) in Table 1a of the accompanying data tables, indicating how the different elements of funding sum to the overall total. Table 1a provides a further, more detailed breakdown of these funding streams. Refer to the glossary in the accompanying user guide for full definitions of each funding stream.

Of the 5 main funding areas, government funding to PCCs will increase by up to £799 million (7.9%) in nominal terms compared with the financial year ending 31 March 2024. Capital funding and Council Tax precept will also see increases in funding in nominal terms, whilst funding for national priorities (including serious violence) and counter terrorism will decrease.

2.2 Nominal funding for PCCs in the financial year ending 31 March 2025

When considering total funding for PCCs (government funding and Council Tax precept), funding will increase in nominal terms by up to £1,140 million (7.4%) in the year ending 31 March 2025 when compared with the previous financial year.

Council Tax referendum principles are set each year for PCCs in England by the MHCLG. These set a level above which an increase in Band D bill level triggers a local referendum. The principles for the latest financial year were that an increase above £13 for an equivalent Band D property would trigger a local referendum. Most PCCs chose to increase their precept level by £13 this year. Council Tax in Wales is a devolved matter, with local authorities responsible for the setting, collection and enforcement of Council Tax. PCCs in Wales are therefore not subject to the referendum principles which apply in England, when setting their Council Tax Band D bill levels.

Government funding to PCCs, which makes up the largest proportion of overall police funding (58.5%) in the year ending 31 March 2025, will see an increase of up to £799 million (7.9%) in nominal terms in the year ending 31 March 2025 when compared with the previous financial year. This is driven by a nominal increase of £359 million (4.0%) in core grant funding and an increase of £286 million (200.7%) to the pensions grant.

These trends are not necessarily reflective of funding received by individual forces. Breakdowns by PFA are provided in Table 4a of the accompanying data tables.

Police Uplift Programme (PUP) funding

In 2019, the previous government committed to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers in England and Wales by 31 March 2023. Between the years ending 31 March 2020 and March 2023, up to £432 million of funding was provided through a ring-fenced grant, with PCCs able to access this as they progressed towards annual recruitment targets. The nominal size of the ringfence varied each year of the programme, reflecting the different stages of delivery.

In April 2023, the Home Office announced that the previous government’s recruitment target of an additional 20,000 police officers had been met nationally. Since the financial year ending 31 March 2024, a ring-fenced PUP grant has been allocated to PCCs, where funding can be accessed upon demonstration that their officer headcount has been maintained in line with the targets set. For the year ending 31 March 2025 police forces received a ring-fenced PUP grant of up to £358 million.

In addition to the PUP grant an additional recruitment top up of £67 million was introduced in the police funding settlement for the financial year ending March 2025. The additional recruitment top up was paid to forces that volunteered to recruit more than their initial uplift target.

In-year police pay award funding

In addition to funding announced in the annual police funding settlement, core grant funding to PCCs provided for the financial years ending 31 March 2023, 2024 and 2025 also included additional in-year funding for the police pay award.

In July 2022, the government announced £70 million in additional funding for PCCs for the year ending 31 March 2023, to support an agreed pay award recommended by the Police Remuneration Review Body. Due to this funding being announced after publication of the ‘police funding for England and Wales 2015 to 2023’ release this in-year funding was incorporated in the year ending 31 March 2024 release of this statistical series.

Additional in-year funding announced in July 2023, for the year ending 31 March 2024 provided a further £330 million for PCCs for the police pay award in the year ending 31 March 2024. This in-year funding was incorporated to the year ending 31 March 2024 release of this statistical series.

In July 2024 the government announced an additional £175 million of funding for the financial year ending 31 March 2025^{[footnote 2]} to help with the cost of the pay award in the year ending March 2025. As this funding was announced before release of the ‘Police funding for England and Wales 2015 to 2025’ publication it has been incorporated into this release. At the time of publication the allocation of this funding by PFA had not been finalised and is not reflected in the force breakdowns.

2.3 Other funding in the financial year ending 31 March 2025 (nominal terms)

In addition to funding provided to PCCs for territorial policing, the government funds an additional grant for counter terrorism policing. In the year ending March 2025 this grant will total up to £1,018 million (including funding for counter-terrorism pensions), a decrease of 0.3% on the previous year in nominal terms.

National priorities funding includes direct government investment at a national level not distributed to PCCs through the usual police funding formula. In the financial year ending March 2025, funding for national priorities (including additional funding for serious violence) will decrease by 12.2% when compared with the previous year (from £1,071 million to £941 million in nominal terms).

A breakdown of national priorities funding is included in Table 3 (for the financial years from the year ending March 2023 onwards) and Table 6 (for financial years prior to the year ending March 2023) of the accompanying data tables.

In the year ending March 2025, £129 million in capital funding will be provided, an increase of £24 million (22.7%) from £105 million in the previous year in nominal terms. The increase in total capital funding was driven by investment in Police Technology Programmes which saw an increase of £39 million or 54.7% compared with the financial year ending March 2024. In the financial year ending March 2024 the Serious Organised Crime Capital funding stream was stopped, leading to a reduction of £16 million.

National priorities funding and capital funding is intended to support implementing important policies and projects within policing and therefore the structure of this funding can change substantially each year. Due to the complex nature of restructuring national priorities funding, it is not always possible to determine whether specific funding streams have been stopped or redistributed. Therefore, year on year comparisons for individual funding streams in national priorities and capital funding should be interpreted with caution. Final amounts spent in any given year may be more or less than the numbers stated here due to changes during the year.

Since the financial year ending March 2023, PCCs have received all core funding as resource but have the flexibility to use this funding for capital investments. Separate capital funding in the police funding settlement is therefore solely provided to national policing programmes and projects from the year ending March 2023 onwards.

2.4 Overall agreed funding for policing since the financial year ending 31 March 2016 (nominal terms)

Since the financial year ending 31 March 2016, overall agreed funding for policing has increased nominally by up to £6,602 million (54.7%). Figure 2.2 shows the overall total funding for policing each year, by funding stream, in nominal terms.

Figure 2.2: Overall annual funding (£ billion) for policing since the financial year ending 31 March 2016 (nominal)

Source: Home Office, ‘Police funding for England and Wales, 2015 to 2025: data tables’; Table 1a

Notes:

1. Numbers (1) to (5) in the legend correspond to lines marked (1) to (5) in Table 1a of the accompanying data tables, indicating how the different elements of funding sum to the overall total. Table 1a provides a further, more detailed breakdown of these funding streams. Refer to the glossary in the accompanying user guide for full definitions of each funding stream.

Overall agreed funding for policing will have increased nominally every financial year since the year ending 31 March 2016.

Since the financial year ending March 2016, government funding to PCCs will see the largest nominal increase, increasing by up to £3,103 million (39.7%).

Government funding to PCCs remained fairly stable between the financial years ending March 2016 and March 2019. Since then, government funding to PCCs has increased year on year in nominal terms (further information can be found in Chapter 2.2). The increase in government funding to PCCs has been partly driven by the introduction of the pensions grant and PUP funding from April 2019, and additional in-year funding for the police pay award in the financial years ending 31 March 2023, 2024 and 2025.

As a proportion of funding to PCCs (government funding and Council Tax precept funding), Council Tax precept has increased from accounting for 28% of funding to PCCs in the financial year ending March 2016 to accounting for 34% of funding to PCCs in the year ending March 2025. These proportions can vary by PFA, due to differences in the tax bases in PFAs and local choices about Council Tax precept. Detailed breakdowns of funding by PFA can be found in Tables 4a and 4b of the accompanying data tables.

Funding for national priorities (including serious violence funding) will have more than doubled in nominal terms since the year ending 31 March 2016, from £449 million to £941 million. Since the financial year ending March 2019, this has included a new serious violence fund and county lines funding, totalling £107 million (including £31 million agreed outside of the police funding settlement) in the latest year. Counter-terrorism funding and capital funding have also increased since the financial year ending March 2016; counter-terrorism funding by up to £454 million and capital funding by up to £8 million.

2.5 Real terms funding for policing since the financial year ending 31 March 2016

Introduction

Following user feedback received as a part of the OSR accredited official statistics assessment, real terms comparisons were included from the July 2021 publication onwards. Calculations have been carried out using GDP deflators, published quarterly by HM Treasury.

As police funding statistics are forward looking, the GDP deflators used are based on OBR forecasts of the GDP deflator for the budget year. The GDP deflators used in this publication reflect the most up-to-date data available at time of publication (the June 2024 deflators published in July 2024). Real terms police funding figures will not be revised based on quarterly changes to GDP deflators, so users should ensure they are using the most appropriate deflator. This is particularly significant where there is likely to be unusual levels of volatility in the OBR forecasts of GDP deflators, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Real terms funding for the financial year ending 31 March 2025

When compared with the previous year, overall agreed funding for the financial year ending March 2025 will increase by up to £889 million (5.0%) in real terms. This increase is largely due to real terms increases in total funding to PCCs of up to £1,016 million (6.5%).

Government funding to PCCs for the financial year ending March 2025 will increase by up to £718 million (7.0%), in real terms, compared with the previous year. This increase is largely due to real terms increases in the pensions grant (£285 million) and core funding (£287 million). Core funding for the financial year ending March 2025 includes an additional £175 million of funding announced outside of the police funding settlement to help with the cost of the police pay award.

For the financial year ending March 2025, Council Tax precept will increase by up to £299 million (5.6%) in real terms, compared with the previous year. Capital funding will also see a real terms increase of up to £23 million (21.7%) compared with the financial year ending March 2024. Funding for national priorities (including serious violence) will see a real terms decrease in funding of £139 million; and counter-terrorism funding will see a real terms decrease of £12 million compared with the financial year ending March 2024.

Real terms funding for the financial years ending 31 March 2016 to 31 March 2025

Compared with the financial year ending March 2016, overall agreed funding for policing will have increased by up to £3,010 (19.2%) in real terms. Figure 2.3 shows the overall funding for policing each year, by funding stream, in real terms.

Figure 2.3: Overall annual funding (£ billion) for policing since financial year ending 31 March 2016, (real terms; financial year ending 31 March 2025 prices)

Source: Home Office, ‘Police funding for England and Wales, 2015 to 2025: data tables’; Table 1b

Notes:

1. Numbers (1) to (5) in the legend correspond to lines marked (1) to (5) in Table 1b of the accompanying data tables, indicating how the different elements of funding sum to the overall total. Table 1b provides a further, more detailed breakdown of these funding streams. Refer to the glossary in the accompanying user guide for full definitions of each funding stream.

The increase in overall funding has largely been driven by real terms increases in Council Tax precept of up to £1,621 million (40.2%). Since the financial year ending March 2016 government funding to PCCs has increased in real terms by up to £774 million (7.6%); this increase has been partly driven by the introduction of the pensions grant and PUP grant in the financial year ending 2020 onwards and subsequent increases to the pensions grant and PUP grant in the financial year ending 31 March 2025. The real terms increase in Council Tax precept and government funding to PCCs will result in an increase of up to £2,394 million (16.9%) in total funding to PCCs.

Since the financial year ending 31 March 2016, national priorities funding will increase by up to £358 million (61.6%) and counter-terrorism funding will increase by up to £286 million (39.0%) in real terms. Whereas capital funding will decrease by £28 million (18.0%) in real terms; this is partly due to all core funding being provided as resource funding since the financial year ending March 2023.

Whilst all 43 of the territorial police forces in England and Wales have seen real terms increases in funding since the financial year ending March 2016, the scale of change varies by PFA, due to differences in the allocation of government funding and varying levels of Council Tax between individual PFAs. Detailed breakdowns of funding by PFA can be found in Tables 4a and 4b of the accompanying data tables.

3. Funding for policing before the financial year ending 31 March 2016

3.1 Introduction

The government regularly reviews how it will fund public services in the years ahead in exercises known as spending reviews. Between spending reviews, the structure of funding for policing can change significantly with specific programmes or policing bodies moving between being funded from within or outside the police funding settlement.

Due to significant changes in the structure of police funding and policing in the financial year ending 2016, it is difficult to make direct comparisons between current police funding figures, and those in the years prior to the financial year ending March 2016. Further information can be found in Annex B of the accompanying user guide.

Figure 3.1 provides a high-level overview of total annual funding since the financial year ending March 2011. Whilst effort has been made to maximise comparability, consideration should be given to the changes in funding structure detailed in our user guide.

Figures include funding for national priorities agreed in the annual police settlement, counter-terrorism funding and capital funding as well as government and precept funding for PCCs. Breakdowns of each of these individual funding streams prior to the financial year ending March 2016 are however not included in this publication. This is because the changes to the structure of policing and police funding mean that definitions of these funding streams would not be consistent prior to the financial year ending March 2016. Further information can be found in Annex B of the accompanying user guide.

3.2 Overall agreed funding for policing since the financial year ending March 2011 (nominal terms)

Following a nominal decline in funding for policing between the financial years ending March 2011 and March 2015, funding has grown steadily each year since as explained in Chapter 2. This has driven an overall nominal increase of up to 44.7% in police funding since year ending March 2011.

3.3 Real terms funding before the financial year ending March 2016

As shown in Figure 3.1, overall agreed funding fell in real terms between the financial years ending March 2011 and March 2015. However, as a result of the recent real terms increases, overall funding in the year ending March 2025 will be at the highest level since the financial year ending March 2011, with a real terms increase of up to £645 million (3.6%). This; however, is not necessarily reflective of total funding for policing over this period due to the reasons described in Chapter 3.1. Neither is this increase necessarily reflective of funding received by individual PCCs due to changes in funding streams not distributed directly to PCCs (as described in Chapter 3.1).

Figure 3.1: Overall annual funding (£ billion) for policing since the financial year ending 31 March 2011 (nominal and real terms)

Source: Home Office, ‘Police funding for England and Wales, 2015 to 2025: data tables’; table 5

Notes:

1. Nominal funding data has been converted to real terms using the latest GDP deflators available at time of publication (the June 2024 deflators published in July 2024). As these statistics are forward looking, GDP deflators have been derived from forecast changes in GDP. During times of economic instability (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), there is increased uncertainty in OBR’s GDP deflator forecasts. This publication will not be updated periodically to reflect any ongoing changes to this forecast. For further information, please refer to Chapter 6 in the accompanying user guide.

Annex A: Reconciling between these statistics and the annual police funding settlement

4.1 Introduction

The latest annual police funding settlement, published provisionally in December 2023 and finalised in January 2024, stated that in the financial year ending March 2025, overall funding would total up to £18,413 million.

As explained in the accompanying user guide, there are a number of differences between these statistics and the police funding settlement. This publication contains analysis of published figures from the police funding settlement, additional funding for Serious Violence agreed outside of the settlement, additional funding for the police pay award agreed outside of the police funding settlement, and Council Tax precept figures. Tables A1 and A2 demonstrate exactly where these differences occur for the financial years ending March 2025 and March 2024 respectively.

Table A1: Funding for policing for the financial year ending 31 March 2025, as described in the ‘Police funding: England and Wales statistics’ and annual ‘Police funding settlement’

Funding stream	Police funding: England and Wales statistics (£ million)	Police funding settlement (£ million)
Total government funding to PCCs	Up to £10,926	Up to £10,751
Of which: grant funding agreed at settlement	Up to £10,751	Up to £10,751
Of which: in-year pay award funding	£175	n/a
Council Tax precept	£5,650	£5,607
National priorities	£941	£909
Of which: funding agreed at settlement	£909	£909
Of which: out of settlement Serious Violence funding	£31	n/a
Counter-terrorism grant	£1,018	£1,018
Capital funding	£129	£129
Total	Up to £18,662	Up to £18,413

Table A2: Funding for policing for the financial year ending 31 March 2024, as described in the ‘Police funding: England and Wales statistics’ and annual ‘Police funding settlement’ (nominal terms)

Funding stream	Police funding: England and Wales statistics (£ million)	Police funding settlement (£ million)
Total government funding to PCCs	Up to £10,127	Up to £9,797
Of which: grant funding agreed at settlement	Up to £9,797	Up to £9,797
Of which: in-year pay award funding	£330	n/a
Council Tax precept	£5,309	£5,282
National priorities	£1,071	£1,009
Of which: funding agreed at settlement	£1,009	£1,009
Of which: out of settlement Serious Violence funding	£62	n/a
Counter-terrorism grant	£1,021	£1,002
Capital funding	£105	£105
Total	Up to £17,632	Up to £17,195

As shown in Tables A1 and A2, at the time of publication of the annual police funding settlement, the exact figure for Council Tax precept is unknown. An upper bound estimate is therefore used based on OBR Council Tax base forecasts and MHCLG Council Tax principles. At the time of publication of these statistics, actual Council Tax decisions have been published by MHCLG and Welsh Government.

The police funding statistics also include additional funding for Serious Violence which is agreed outside of the police funding settlement. The totals for national priorities funding in this publication include additional Serious Violence funding agreed outside of the police funding settlement. For example, in the year ending 31 March 2025 there was £31 million agreed outside of the settlement (in addition to £46 million of Serious Violence funding and £30 million of County Lines funding included in the settlement).

The counter-terrorism police grant for 2023 to 2024 was revised in the ‘Police funding for England and Wales 2015 to 2025’ publication to include a pay award and in-year funding. The figure will therefore differ from previous publications and the police funding settlement.

The police funding statistics also include additional in-year funding, agreed outside of the police funding settlement, for the police pay award. In July 2023, the government announced that PCCs would receive a further £330 million of additional in-year funding for the year ending 31 March 2024 for the police pay award. As the announcement occurred before release of the ‘Police Funding for England and Wales 2015 to 2024’ release the additional funding was included in these statistics.

In July 2024, the government announced an additional £175 million of additional in-year funding in response to the police pay award, for the financial year ending March 2025^{[footnote 3]}. As this funding was announced before release of the ‘Police funding for England and Wales 2015 to 2025’ publication it has been incorporated into this release. The timings of these government announcements have made it possible to include additional in-year funding for the police pay award in this statistical series. If an announcement was to occur after the release of these statistics, the data would be updated in the next annual release.

1. Out of settlement funding for serious violence may include funding which isn’t for the policing bodies but other bodies which are helping to tackle serious violence, such as, Local Authorities. ↩

2. £175 million will be provided to policing to help with the cost of the police pay award in the year ending March 2025. Information on how this will be allocated across policing was not determined ahead of the ‘Police funding for England and Wales, 2015 to 2025’ publication. ↩

3. £175 million will be provided to policing to help with the cost of the police pay award in the year ending March 2025. Information on how this will be allocated across policing was not determined ahead of the ‘Police funding for England and Wales, 2015 to 2025’ publication. ↩