Rebecca Evans MS, Minister for Finance and Local Government
I am today laying before the Senedd the Local Government Finance Report (No.2) 2024-25 (Final Settlement – Police and Crime Commissioners). This sets out the Welsh Government’s component of the Final Police Settlement for police forces in Wales for 2024-25. Today’s announcement made by the Home Office publishes the final Police Grant allocations for policing bodies in England and Wales, to ensure that Police and Crime Commissioners are able to set precepts by 1 March.
Policing policy is not devolved and funding for the four Welsh police forces is delivered through a three-way arrangement involving the Home Office, the Welsh Government and council tax. For 2024-25 the total core support for police forces in Wales will be £459.8million.
A common needs-based formula, operated by the Home Office, is used to distribute funding across English and Welsh police forces, and the approach to setting and distributing the Welsh Government’s component of police funding provision is based on a principle of ensuring consistency and fairness across England and Wales.
As in previous years, the Home Office has overlaid its needs-based formula with a floor mechanism. This ensures all police forces in England and Wales can expect to receive an increase in core funding of 2.054% for 2024-25. I recognise that against the background of recent high rates of inflation this will require the four police forces in Wales to make difficult decisions on services, efficiencies, and council tax precepts. All our Police and Crime Commissioners have been consulting with their local communities on the level of local funding for 2024-2025 and I know they will be keenly aware of the cost of living pressures many households continue to face.
Following consultation, the figures for the Final Police Settlement remain as I set out in my statement on 14 December on the Provisional Police Settlement. I propose to set the Welsh Government’s contribution to police funding for 2024-25 at £113.47 million. The floor funding is provided by the Home Office. The figures are summarised in Tables 1 to 3 of this Statement.
The Local Government Finance Report (No.2) 2024-25 is scheduled for debate in the Senedd on 20 February.
This information is also published on the Welsh Government’s website at: