Accredited official statistics

Police funding for England and Wales 2015 to 2027

Published 19 August 2026

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 presents information on agreed funding for policing in England and Wales between the financial years ending 31 March 2016 and 31 March 2027. Chapter 4 also provides high-level information on funding back to the financial year ending 31 March 2011. Most of the figures included in this release have previously been published through government announcements, ministerial statements and official statistics. This publication brings this information together into a single, coherent statistical release.

Key findings

Up to £21,190 million in funding for policing in England and Wales has been agreed for the financial year ending 31 March 2027

In nominal terms, overall funding will increase by:

• up to £1,298 million (6.5%) compared with the previous financial year
• up to £9,130 million (75.7%) since the financial year ending 31 March 2016

In real terms (adjusted for inflation), overall funding will increase by:

• up to £899 million (4.4%) compared with the previous year
• up to £4,125 million (24.2%) since the financial year ending 31 March 2016

Total funding for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) (including government funding and council tax precept), will increase by:

• up to £798 million (4.5%) compared with the previous financial year, in nominal terms
• up to £443 million (2.5%) compared with the previous financial year, in real terms

Note: In addition to these annual statistics, the Home Office typically makes year-on-year comparisons between each annual police funding settlement. Due to differences in scope, such as the inclusion of funding outside of the police funding settlement in these statistics, figures will not match the police funding settlement exactly. The police funding settlement (announced in January 2026) showed that funding would increase by up to £1.3 billion in the financial year ending 31 March 2027 compared with the previous year, bringing overall funding up to £21.0 billion. More information on how to reconcile figures in this release 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 UK Parliament 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), which provides context and additional information on funding not set out in the police grant report, such as council tax precept funding 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. Previous WMSs and police grant reports can be found on GOV.UK.

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 section 2.2. Police precept accounts for 34.9% of total funding to PCCs in England and Wales in the financial year ending 31 March 2027 and is paid directly by local taxpayers. This proportion varies considerably by police force. Breakdowns by Police Force Area (PFA) can be found in Table 4a of the accompanying data tables.

This publication contains analysis of funding agreed at the time of publication, including from the police funding settlement, additional out of settlement funding provided through the Home Office’s wider budget, additional funding for the police pay award agreed outside of the police funding settlement, and actual council tax precept funding. The figures presented in this publication do not necessarily represent the Government’s total investment in the policing system, as additional funding in the Home Office’s wider budget may be agreed after publication.

In addition to the funding presented in this publication, PCCs also receive income from other sources (further information can be found in section 2.2 of the user guide); therefore, the funding presented here does not represent the full budget for policing within a PFA, policing body or across England and Wales as a whole.

The term ‘overall funding’ is used throughout this publication to refer to government funding agreed in the police funding settlement, council tax precept and additional funding agreed outside the settlement, such as funding for police pay awards. Sources of funding that fall outside the scope of this publication, as outlined previously, are not included within the definition of ‘overall funding’.

In addition to the funding streams mentioned previously, this publication also includes pensions Annual Managed Expenditure (AME) funding in Table 1a and 1b of the accompanying data tables. Pensions AME funding is determined retrospectively and is therefore not included within overall funding. Further information on Pensions AME can be found in chapter 6 of the user guide.

The statistics in this publication reflect the amount of funding budgeted and therefore do not represent the actual amount of money spent by the Government on policing or by individual police forces in a given financial year. The police funding settlement for the year ending 31 March 2026 (and subsequent years) has included a ring-fenced grant to support the growth of 13,000 more neighbourhood police officers and police community support officers (PCSOs). PCCs can access this funding as they grow their neighbourhood policing teams and demonstrate progress towards the year-end targets. As such, budgeted funding may not yet have been released to police forces or spent.

Figures are presented in both nominal terms (not adjusted for inflation) and real terms (adjusted for inflation using published Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflators).

This publication contains detailed statistics from the financial year ending 31 March 2016 onwards, while overall funding statistics are provided back to the financial year ending 31 March 2011. Due to significant changes in the structure of police funding and policing in the financial year ending 31 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 31 March 2016. Further information can be found in Annex B of the accompanying user guide.

The accompanying user guide has further information about the scope of this publication, definitions, and quality considerations.

1.2 Changes in this release

Officer Maintenance Grant

In the police funding settlement for the financial year ending 31 March 2027 it was announced that the ring-fenced Officer Maintenance Grant and associated officer headcount targets would be removed as of 1 April 2026.

Neighbourhood Policing Grant

Year 1 of the Neighbourhood Policing Grant was introduced in the financial year ending 31 March 2026 to support the growth of 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel as part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. Year 2 of the Neighbourhood Policing Grant is now the only conditional workforce grant in the police funding settlement for the financial year ending 31 March 2027, with the Officer Maintenance Grant having been removed.

Funding for the year ending 31 March 2026 police pay award

Due to the timing of the Government’s announcement in August 2025, of the additional £120 million of in-year funding for the police pay award for the year ending 31 March 2026, it was not possible to provide detailed allocations by PFA in the previous edition of the ‘Police funding for England and Wales’ publication, as they were not finalised at the time of publication.

For the first time this publication includes a PFA breakdown of the £120 million of funding in the financial year ending 31 March 2026 to help with the cost of the pay award. Of the funding announced in August 2025, £0.06 million was used to support the pay award for police officers or staff seconded to His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) or the College of Policing, this has been presented separately from government funding to PCCs and as such the in-year pay award figure and total for government funding to PCCs has changed slightly since the previous publication.

Police capital grant

The police capital grant was provided to PCCs for capital expenditure from the years ending 31 March 2016 to 31 March 2022. Since then, PCCs have received all core funding as resource and as such the police capital grant was incorporated within the Home Office core grant. In previous releases of the ‘Police funding for England and Wales’ statistical publication the police capital grant was included within ‘total capital funding’. In this edition of the ‘Police funding for England and Wales’ statistical publication, the police capital grant was moved into ‘government funding for PCCs’ to reflect that when it existed it was provided directly to PCCs and to align with how it was presented in the police funding settlement. As such, the figures for government funding to PCCs, total funding to PCCs and capital wider system funding for the financial years ending 31 March 2016 to 31 March 2022 presented in this release and the accompanying data tables will differ from those previously published in this statistical series.

Subtotals in the accompanying data tables

Given the change in presentation of the police capital grant, as previously outlined, subtotals presented in the data tables accompanying this release have changed compared to previous publications. ‘Government funding to PCCs’ now includes the police capital grant, whilst ‘capital wider system funding’ no longer includes the police capital grant.

Additionally, subtotals for ‘police settlement funding excluding counter terrorism funding’, ‘total police settlement funding’ and ‘total resource funding’ are no longer presented. A subtotal is provided for ‘total police funding excluding capital wider system funding’ which is the sum of total funding to PCCs, resource wider system funding, counter terrorism policing funding, out of settlement funding and additional in-year funding.

Wider system funding

In the police funding settlement, wider system funding includes both resource and capital funding, whereas in the ‘Police Funding for England and Wales’ statistical series wider system funding is separated for resource and capital funding.

In previous editions of the ‘Police funding for England and Wales’ statistical series the term ‘wider system funding’ had been used to refer to resource wider system funding and the term ‘capital funding’ had been used to refer to capital wider system funding. To provide additional clarity, in this edition of ‘Police Funding for England and Wales’ these terms are referred to as ‘resource wider system funding’ and ‘capital wider system funding’.

1.3 Nominal and real terms analysis

Following feedback received during the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) accredited official statistics assessment, real terms comparisons (adjusted for inflation) have been included in this statistical release since the July 2021 publication. Calculations in this release have been carried out using GDP deflators published by HM Treasury on 30 June 2026.

Nominal terms funding is the cash value and does not account for inflation. Real terms funding adjusts for inflation using GDP deflators to present funding in 2026 to 2027 prices. Throughout this release, funding is clearly labelled to distinguish between nominal and real terms.

As police funding statistics are forward looking, the GDP deflators used are based on Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts for the budget year. The GDP deflators used in this publication reflect the most up-to-date data available at time of publication (published by HM Treasury on 30 June 2026). Real terms police funding figures are not revised to reflect subsequent quarterly changes to GDP deflators. Users should therefore ensure they are using the most appropriate deflator for their analysis. This is particularly significant where there is likely to be unusual levels of volatility, when OBR forecasts of GDP deflators may be subject to greater uncertainty, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1.4 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.

1.5 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.

1.6 User engagement survey

To broaden our engagement with users and help shape future releases, we have provided a user engagement survey alongside this release. The survey will help us identify who uses the data, how it is used, and how the publication can better meet users’ needs.

We would also encourage users to contact policingstatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk with any feedback about the publication. More information on user engagement can be found in chapter 5 of the user guide.

2. Nominal terms funding for policing since the financial year ending 31 March 2016

2.1 Overall agreed funding for the policing system in the financial year ending 31 March 2027 (nominal terms)

For the financial year ending 31 March 2027, an allocation of up to £21,190 million has been agreed in funding for policing in England and Wales. This represents an increase of up to £1,298 million (6.5%) compared with the previous year, in nominal terms.

This total consists of resource funding and capital funding. Resource funding includes government funding to PCCs; police precept; resource wider system funding; counter-terrorism police funding; and any out of settlement funding or additional in-year funding. Capital wider system funding is provided outside of funding to PCCs and includes further funding for capital projects, such as technology programmes. Figure 2.1 shows the funding for each of these areas for the financial year ending 31 March 2027.

Figure 2.1: Overall agreed annual funding (£billions) for policing, financial year ending 31 March 2027 (nominal terms)

Source: Home Office, ‘Police funding for England and Wales, 2015 to 2027: data tables’; table 1a

Notes:

1. Numbers (1) to (6) in the legend correspond to lines marked (1) to (6) in Table 1a of the accompanying data tables, indicating how the different elements of funding sum to the overall total. Table 1a provides a more detailed breakdown of these funding streams. The glossary in the accompanying user guide provides definitions of each funding stream.

The 5 main funding streams (which excludes out of settlement funding and additional in-year funding) will all see increases in the year ending 31 March 2027:

• capital wider system funding^{[footnote 1]} will see the largest nominal increase of £476 million (387%)
• council tax precept will increase by £402 million (6.6%)
• government funding to PCCs will increase by £396 million (3.4%)
• funding for counter terrorism policing will increase by £52 million (4.5%)
• resource funding for the wider policing system^{[footnote 1]} will increase by £2 million (0.2%)

Out of settlement funding will decrease by £30 million (22.4%) in the year ending 31 March 2027; however as this only represents funding that has been agreed in the Home Office wider budget at the time of publication, year on year changes should be interpreted with caution.

2.2 Funding for PCCs in the financial year ending 31 March 2027 (nominal terms)

When considering total funding for PCCs (government funding and council tax precept), funding will increase in nominal terms by up to £798 million (4.5%) in the year ending 31 March 2027 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 the Band D bill level triggers a local referendum. For most PCCs, the principles for the latest financial year were that an increase of more than £15 for an equivalent Band D property would trigger a local referendum. For PCCs in Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Durham, Gloucestershire, Humberside and Northumbria the principles for the latest financial year were that an increase of more than £18.50 for an equivalent Band D property would trigger a local referendum. Of PCCs in England, 31 chose to increase their precept level by the maximum amount allowed in the year ending 31 March 2027, while 7 PCCs in England increased their precept level very close to the maximum level (Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Essex, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk increased precept by £14.94; Humberside increased precept by £18.49)^{[footnote 2]}.

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 council tax referendum principles which apply in England when setting their council tax Band D bill levels.

These increases have resulted in an overall increase in council tax precept of £402 million (6.6%) in England and Wales in the year ending 31 March 2027 compared with the previous financial year.

In the year ending 31 March 2027, government funding to PCCs, which makes up the largest proportion of overall police funding (56.7%), will see an increase of up to £396 million (3.4%) in nominal terms when compared to the previous financial year. This is driven by a nominal increase of £609 million (6.3%) in core grant funding and £163 million (81.7%) in the neighbourhood policing grant. These increases are offset by the removal of the ring-fenced Officer Maintenance Grant (and accompanying additional recruitment top up) in the 2026 to 2027 settlement; which accounted for £377 million in the previous year.

These trends in England and Wales may not reflect the funding received by individual police forces. Breakdowns by PFA are provided in Table 4a of the accompanying data tables.

2.3 Other funding in the financial year ending 31 March 2027 (nominal terms)

Resource wider system funding and capital wider system funding support the implementation of important policies and projects within policing. Consequently, the structure of this funding can change substantially between years and year-on-year comparisons for individual funding streams should be interpreted with caution. Actual expenditure in any given year may differ from the amounts presented in this publication as funding allocations can change during the financial year.

In addition to funding provided to PCCs for territorial policing, the Government also provides funding for the wider policing system, counter terrorism policing and capital projects.

In the year ending 31 March 2027, capital wider system funding will total up to £599 million in nominal terms, increasing by £476 million (387%) compared to the previous year, driven by a £450 million increase in funding for Police Technology Programmes.

Counter terrorism policing funding will total up to £1,212 million (including funding for counter-terrorism pensions) in the year ending 31 March 2027, an increase of £52 million (4.5%) on the previous year in nominal terms.

Wider system funding includes direct government investment at a national level not distributed to PCCs through the usual police funding formula. In the financial year ending 31 March 2027, resource wider system funding will total up to £793 million in nominal terms, increasing by £2 million (0.2%) when compared with the previous year.

A breakdown of wider system funding is included in the accompanying data tables in Table 3 (nominal terms) for the most recent financial year; and in Table 6a (nominal terms) and Table 6b (real terms in financial year ending 31 March 2027 prices) for financial years prior to the year ending 31 March 2027.

Since the financial year ending March 2022, PCCs have received all core funding as resource funding but have the flexibility to use this for capital investments. Separate capital funding in the police funding settlement is therefore solely provided to national policing programmes and projects in the year ending 31 March 2023 onwards.

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

Since the financial year ending 31 March 2016, overall agreed funding for the policing system has increased nominally by up to £9,130 million (75.7%). Figure 2.2 shows the overall total funding for policing each year, since the year ending 31 March 2016, by funding stream, in nominal terms. Overall agreed funding for the policing system will have increased nominally every financial year since the year ending 31 March 2016.

Between the financial years ending 31 March 2025 and 2026, overall agreed funding for the policing system increased by up to £1,230 million (6.6%) in nominal terms. In the latest year, (the financial year ending 31 March 2027 compared with the financial year ending 31 March 2026), funding has additionally increased by up to £1,298 million (6.5%) in nominal terms. Combined, funding for the financial year ending 31 March 2027 has increased by up to £2,528 million (13.5%) in nominal terms since the financial year ending 31 March 2025.

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

Source: Home Office, ‘Police funding for England and Wales, 2015 to 2027: data tables’; table 1a

Notes:

1. Numbers (1) to (6) in the legend correspond to lines marked (1) to (6) in Table 1a of the accompanying data tables, indicating how the different elements of funding sum to the overall total. Table 1a provides a more detailed breakdown of these funding streams. The glossary in the accompanying user guide provides definitions of each funding stream.
2. The data labels represent overall funding for policing in each financial year.

2.4.1 Government funding to PCCs

Of the 5 main funding streams (which excludes out of settlement funding and additional in-year funding) government funding to PCCs will see the largest numerical increase since the financial year ending 31 March 2016, increasing by up to £4,112 million (52.0%) in nominal terms.

Government funding to PCCs declined between the financial years ending 31 March 2016 and 31 March 2018. Since the financial year ending 31 March 2018, government funding to PCCs has increased year-on-year in nominal terms (further information can be found in section 2.2). The largest annual increase in government funding to PCCs was observed in the financial year ending 31 March 2021 when there was an increase of £837 million, driven by the introduction of the former Officer Maintenance Grant, a one-off COVID-19 grant of £199 million, and a £532 million increase in core funding. Since then, there were similarly large increases in the financial years ending 31 March 2025 and 2026. The £788 million increase in the financial year ending 31 March 2025 was driven by a £286 million increase in the pensions grant and a £348 million increase in core funding. The £713 million increase in the financial year ending 31 March 2026 was driven by the introduction of a £200 million Neighbourhood Policing Grant, £230 million funding to support the increase in National Insurance contributions and a £295 million increase in core funding.

Figure 2.3 shows the proportion of total funding to PCCs from government funding to PCCs and council tax precept since the financial year ending 31 March 2016. Council tax precept has increased from accounting for 28.2% of total funding to PCCs in the financial year ending 31 March 2016 to accounting for 34.9% of total funding to PCCs in the year ending 31 March 2027. These proportions can vary by PFA, due to differences in the tax bases in PFAs and local choices about council tax precept. In the financial year ending 31 March 2027, Northumbria will have the lowest share of council tax precept, at 20.7% of total funding to PCCs; while Surrey will have the highest share at 54.4% of total funding to PCCs. Detailed breakdowns of total funding to PCCs by PFA can be found in Table 4a (nominal terms) and Table 4b (real terms in financial year ending 31 March 2027 prices) of the accompanying data tables.

Figure 2.3: Proportion (%) of total funding to PCCs, since the financial year ending 31 March 2016 (nominal terms)

Source: Home Office, ‘Police funding for England and Wales, 2015 to 2027: data tables’; Table 1a

Notes:

1. The Officer Maintenance Grant was included as part of government funding to PCCs between the financial years ending 31 March 2020 and 31 March 2026.
2. The pensions grant was introduced as part of government funding to PCCs in the financial year ending 31 March 2020.
3. A one-off COVID-19 grant was provided as part of government funding to PCCs in the financial year ending 31 March 2021.
4. The additional recruitment top up grant was included as part of government funding to PCCs for the financial years ending 31 March 2025 and 31 March 2026.
5. The Neighbourhood Policing Grant and funding to support national insurance contributions were introduced in the financial year ending 31 March 2026.

Government funding to PCCs: Officer Maintenance Grant

The Home Office provided ring-fenced funding to forces to support the recruitment and maintenance of police officer numbers; in previous years this included the Officer Maintenance Grant (formerly the Police Uplift Programme (PUP) grant which was renamed to the Officer Maintenance Grant in the year ending March 2026).

Between the years ending 31 March 2020 and 31 March 2023, during the recruitment phase of the PUP, up to £432 million of funding was provided through a ring-fenced grant, with PCCs could access 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.

The PUP recruitment phase concluded on 31 March 2023 and, in the financial year ending 31 March 2024 (up to the financial year ending 31 March 2026), an Officer Maintenance Grant (previously the PUP grant) was allocated to PCCs, where funding was accessed upon demonstration that their officer headcount had been maintained in line with the targets set.

For the year ending 31 March 2025, police forces received an Officer Maintenance Grant of up to £358 million. In addition to the Officer Maintenance Grant, an additional recruitment top up of £67 million was introduced in the police funding settlement for the financial year ending 31 March 2025. The additional recruitment top up was paid to forces that volunteered to recruit more than their initial uplift target. Combined, this is a total of up to £425 million in the year ending 31 March 2025.

For the financial year ending 31 March 2026, £377 million was available to forces to maintain officer numbers^{[footnote 3]}. This funding was distributed as follows:

• £270 million was ring-fenced funding, which PCCs accessed by demonstrating that they had maintained their officer numbers
• £107 million was paid to forces who received additional recruitment allocations in the years ending 31 March 2024 and 31 March 2025; this funding was provided as an additional recruitment top up grant, it was unconditional and the funding was distributed according to how much additional recruitment forces were allocated

In the financial year ending 31 March 2027, the ring-fenced Officer Maintenance Grant and additional recruitment top up were removed and the funding distributed through other funding streams in the police funding settlement.

Government funding to PCCs: in-year police pay award funding

In addition to funding announced in the annual police funding settlement, government funding to PCCs provided for the financial years ending 31 March 2023 to 31 March 2027 also included additional in-year funding to support the police pay award.

Due to the timing of the Government’s announcement of additional in-year funding for the police pay award for the year ending 31 March 2026, it was not possible to provide detailed allocations by PFA in the previous edition of the ‘Police funding for England and Wales’ publication, as they were not finalised at the time of publication.

As such, for the first time, this publication includes a PFA breakdown of the £120 million of funding announced in August 2025 to help with the cost of the pay award in the financial year ending 31 March 2026. Of the funding announced in August 2025, £0.06 million was used to support the pay award for police officers or staff seconded to HMICFRS or the College of Policing, this has been presented separately from government funding to PCCs and as such the in-year pay award figure and total for government funding to PCCs has changed slightly since the previous publication.

The Government announced in July 2026 that £84 million would be provided as additional in-year funding to support the police pay award for the financial year ending 31 March 2027. The distribution of this funding was known at the time of publication and as such the accompanying data tables reflect the force level funding to support the pay award.

2.4.2 Resource wider system funding

Resource funding for the wider policing system will have increased by £344 million (76.8%) in nominal terms since the financial year ending 31 March 2016, from £449 million in 2016 to £793 million in 2027. This should be interpreted with caution as funding for the wider policing system will change each year to adapt to changing national priorities; additionally, since the financial year ending 31 March 2026, some funding previously provided through wider system funding was provided through the Home Office’s wider budget.

2.4.3 Counter terrorism policing funding

Funding for counter terrorism policing will have increased by £648 million (114.9%) in nominal terms since the financial year ending 31 March 2016, from £564 million in 2016 to £1,212 million in 2027. Counter terrorism policing funding has increased year-on-year, with the smallest numerical increase seen in the financial year ending 31 March 2018 (an increase of £1 million) and the largest numerical increase seen in the financial year ending 31 March 2026 (an increase of £132 million).

2.4.4 Capital wider system funding

Capital wider system funding has increased by £568 million (1,808.1%) in nominal terms since the financial year ending 31 March 2016, from £31 million in 2016 to £599 million in 2027. This increase has been driven by a £476 million increase in the financial year ending 31 March 2027, the largest numerical increase in capital wider system funding since 2016.

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

3.1 Introduction

Following feedback received during the OSR accredited official statistics assessment, real terms comparisons (adjusted for inflation) have been included in this statistical release since the July 2021 publication. Calculations in this release have been carried out using GDP deflators published by HM Treasury on 30 June 2026.

As police funding statistics are forward looking, the GDP deflators used are based on OBR forecasts for the budget year. The GDP deflators used in this publication reflect the most up-to-date data available at time of publication (published by HM Treasury on 30 June 2026. Real terms police funding figures are not revised to reflect subsequent quarterly changes to GDP deflators. Users should therefore ensure they are using the most appropriate deflator for their analysis. This is particularly significant where there is likely to be unusual levels of volatility, when OBR forecasts of GDP deflators may be subject to greater uncertainty, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

3.2 Real terms funding for the financial year ending 31 March 2027

When compared with the previous year, overall agreed funding for the policing system in the year ending 31 March 2027 will increase by up to £899 million (4.4%) in real terms. This increase is largely due to a real terms increase of £474 (377.1%) in capital wider system funding, which includes a £448 million (393.7%) increase in funding for police technology programmes.

Government funding to PCCs for the year ending 31 March 2027 will increase by up to £163 million (1.4%) in real terms compared with the previous year. For the year ending 31 March 2027, council tax precept will increase by £281 million (4.5%) in real terms, compared with the previous year.

Funding for counter-terrorism policing in the year ending 31 March 2027 will increase by £29 million (2.4%) in real terms, compared with the previous year. Resource funding for the wider policing system will decrease by £14 million (1.8%) in the year ending 31 March 2027 compared with the previous year.

3.3 Real terms funding for the financial years ending 31 March 2016 to 31 March 2027

Compared with the financial year ending 31 March 2016, overall agreed funding for the policing system will have increased by up to £4,125 (24.2%) in real terms. Between the financial years ending 31 March 2025 and 31 March 2026 overall agreed funding for the policing system increased by up to £599 million (3.0%) in real terms. In the latest year, (the financial year ending 31 March 2027 compared with the financial year ending 31 March 2026) overall funding will have increased by up to £899 million (4.4%) in real terms. Combined, overall funding for the policing system in the financial year ending 31 March 2027 will increase by up to £1,498 million (7.6%) in real terms compared to the financial year ending 31 March 2025. Figure 3.1 shows the overall funding for the policing system each year, by funding stream, in real terms.

Figure 3.1: Overall agreed annual funding (£billions) for policing, since financial year ending 31 March 2016, (real terms; financial year ending 31 March 2027 prices)

Source: Home Office, ‘Police funding for England and Wales, 2015 to 2027: data tables’; table 1b

Notes:

1. Numbers (1) to (6) in the legend correspond to lines marked (1) to (6) in Table 1b of the accompanying data tables, indicating how the different elements of funding sum to the overall total. Table 1b provides a more detailed breakdown of these funding streams. The glossary in the accompanying user guide provides definitions of each funding stream.
2. The data labels represent overall funding for policing in each financial year.

The increase in overall funding has largely been driven by real terms increases in council tax precept of £2,067 million (47.0%) since the financial year ending 31 March 2016, with the increase in the most recent year of £281 million (4.5%) being the third largest real terms increase since the financial year ending 31 March 2016 (the largest increase being £542 million in real terms in the financial year ending 31 March 2020). Government funding to PCCs will increase by up to £828 million (7.4%) in real terms since the financial year ending 31 March 2016. Since the financial year ending 31 March 2019 government funding to PCCs has usually increased each year, with the exception of the financial years ending 31 March 2023 and 31 March 2024, when it decreased by up to £75 million and £83 million respectively in real terms. The real terms increase in council tax precept and government funding to PCCs will result in an increase of up to £2,895 million (18.6%) in total funding to PCCs in the year ending 31 March 2027 compared to the year ending 31 March 2016.

Since the financial year ending 31 March 2016, resource wider system funding will increase by £158 million (24.9%) and counter terrorism policing funding will increase by £414 million (51.9%) in real terms.

Following the £474 million real terms increase for capital wider system funding in the most recent year, the largest real terms annual increase since 2016, capital wider system funding will increase by up to £555 million (1,248.5%) in real terms in the year ending 31 March 2027 compared to the financial year ending 31 March 2016.

Whilst all 43 of the territorial police forces in England and Wales have seen real terms increases in funding in the financial year ending 31 March 2027 compared with the financial year ending 31 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 Table 4a (nominal terms) and Table 4b (real terms in financial year ending 31 March 2027 prices) of the accompanying data tables.

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

4.1 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 31 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 31 March 2016. Further information can be found in Annex B of the accompanying user guide.

Figure 4.1 provides a high-level overview of total annual funding since the financial year ending 31 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 government funding to PCCs, resource wider system funding, counter terrorism funding, and capital wider system funding agreed in the annual police funding settlement, as well as council tax precept funding for PCCs and out of settlement funding provided through the Home Office wider budget. Breakdowns of each of these individual funding streams prior to the financial year ending 31 March 2016 are not included in this publication because 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 31 March 2016. Further information can be found in Annex B of the accompanying user guide.

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

Following a nominal decline in overall agreed funding for the policing system between the financial years ending 31 March 2011 and 31 March 2015, funding has grown steadily each year since, as explained in chapter 2. Since the year ending 31 March 2011, there has been an overall nominal increase of up to £8,297 million (64.4%) in police funding.

4.3 Real terms funding before the financial year ending March 2016

As shown in figure 4.1, overall agreed funding for the policing system fell in real terms between the financial years ending 31 March 2011 and 31 March 2015, funding has grown steadily each year since with the exception of the financial year ending 31 March 2024 was saw a decrease in real terms compared to the previous year. As a result of the recent real terms increases, overall agreed funding for the policing system in the year ending 31 March 2027 will be at the highest level since the financial year ending 31 March 2011, with a real terms increase of up to £1,430 million (7.2%), in 2026 to 2027 prices. This, however, is not necessarily reflective of total funding for policing over this period due to the reasons described in section 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 section 4.1).

Figure 4.1: Overall agreed annual funding (£billions) for the policing system since the financial year ending 31 March 2011 (nominal and real terms)

Source: Home Office, ‘Police funding for England and Wales, 2015 to 2027: 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 (published by HM Treasury on 30 June 2026). As these statistics are forward looking, GDP deflators are based on the OBR’s forecasts for the budget year. During times of economic instability (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) there is greater uncertainty in OBR’s GDP deflator forecasts. This publication is not updated to reflect any subsequent changes to GDP deflator forecasts. Users should therefore ensure they are using the most appropriate deflator for their analysis. For further information, please refer to chapter 7 in the accompanying user guide. 

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

A.1 Introduction

The latest annual police funding settlement, published provisionally in December 2025 and finalised in January 2026, stated that in the financial year ending March 2027, overall funding would total up to £20,966 million.

As explained in the accompanying user guide, there are differences between the figures in this release and the police funding settlement. This publication contains analysis of published figures from the police funding settlement, additional out of settlement funding (including the police pay award), and actual council tax precept figures. Tables A1 and A2 demonstrate exactly where these differences occur for the financial years ending 31 March 2027 and 31 March 2026 respectively.

Table A1: Funding (£millions) for policing for the financial year ending 31 March 2027, as described in the ‘Police funding for England and Wales’ statistical release and the annual ‘Police funding settlement’ (nominal terms)

Funding stream	Police funding: England and Wales statistics (£m)	Police funding settlement (£m)
Total government funding to PCCs	Up to £12,024	Up to £11,940
Of which: grant funding     agreed at settlement	Up to £11,940	Up to £11,940
Of which: in-year pay award   funding	£84	n/a
Council tax precept	£6,460	£6,422
Resource wider system funding	£793	£793
Counter terrorism policing	£1,212	£1,212
Capital wider system funding	£599	£599
Out of settlement funding	£103	n/a
Total	Up to £21,190	Up to £20,966

Source: Home Office, ‘Police funding for England and Wales, 2015 to 2027: data tables’ and UK Parliament, Written statements – ‘Final Police Funding Settlement (England and Wales) 2026-27’

Table A2: Funding (£millions) for policing for the financial year ending 31 March 2026, as described in the ‘Police funding for England and Wales’ statistical release and the annual ‘Police funding settlement’ (nominal terms)

Funding stream	Police funding: England and Wales statistics (£m)	Police funding settlement (£m)
Total government funding to PCCs	Up to £11,628	Up to £11,508
Of which: grant funding       agreed at settlement	Up to £11,508	Up to £11,508
Of which: in-year pay award     funding	£120	n/a
Council tax precept	£6,058	£5,980
Resource wider system funding	£791	£791
Counter terrorism policing	£1,160	£1,160
Capital wider system funding	£123	£123
Out of settlement funding (incl. additional in-year funding)	£132	n/a
Total	Up to £19,892	Up to £19,562

Source: Home Office, ‘Police funding for England and Wales, 2015 to 2027: data tables’ and UK Parliament, Written statements – ‘Police Funding Settlement 2025-26’

As shown in Table A1 and Table A2, at the time of publication of the annual police funding settlement, the exact figure for council tax precept was unknown. Therefore, an upper bound estimate was 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 figures in the ‘Police funding for England and Wales’ statistical series also include additional out of settlement funding, provided to policing from the Home Office core budget.

The figures in this release also include additional in-year funding, agreed outside of the police funding settlement, for police pay awards. In August 2025 the Government announced an additional £120 million of in-year funding for the financial year ending 31 March 2026 for the police pay award. In July 2026 the Government announced an additional £84 million of in-year funding for the financial year ending 31 March 2027 in response to the police pay award.

1. In the police funding settlement wider system funding includes resource and capital funding whereas in the police funding statistical series, wider system funding is separated for resource and capital funding. ↩ ↩²

2. A precept grant is paid to the Common Council of the City of London on behalf of the City of London Police to compensate the force for not receiving police precept income. ↩

3. £75 million was released from the ringfenced grant to top up the Home Office core grant for all police forces. ↩