Jayne Bryant MS, Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I am today laying before the Senedd the Local Government Finance Report (No.2) 2026-27 (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 2026-27. Today, the Home Office published the final Police Grant allocations for policing bodies in England and Wales to ensure Police and Crime Commissioners can set precepts by the 1st of 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 2026-27 the total core support for police forces in Wales will be £512.34million.
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 4.022% for 2026-27. I encourage the four Police and Crime Commissioners in Wales to consult with their local communities in considering the level of local funding for 2026-2027. They will need to consider carefully the balance between impacts from increases in police precepts and on services to their communities.
Following consultation, the funding for the Final Police Settlement remains as set out in my statement on the 18th of December on the Provisional Police Settlement. I propose to set the Welsh Government’s contribution to police funding for 2026-27 at £113.47 million. The floor funding is provided by the Home Office. The figures are summarised in Tables 1 to 4 of this Statement.
I acknowledge the challenging financial context within which policing partners are operating, as well as the continuing cost‑of‑living pressures faced by many households. The UK Government has confirmed that, in England, increases to police precepts are restricted to £15 without the requirement for a referendum. Although this limit does not apply in Wales, Welsh Ministers retain the power to impose a cap on increases should that be considered necessary. The Welsh Government will continue to engage constructively with Welsh PCCs and forces to ensure the most effective deployment of our shared resources and to support the delivery of our collective ambitions for communities across Wales.
The Local Government Finance Report (No.2) 2026-27 is scheduled for debate in the Senedd on the 3 March 2026.
This information is also published on the Welsh Government’s website at: