Written Statement: Provisional Police Settlement 2022-23

Today, I am publishing proposals for the Welsh Government’s component of funding to Police and Crime Commissioners in Wales for 2022-23. These include the provisional allocations of core revenue funding for each of the four Police and Crime Commissioners in Wales.

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 2022-2023 the total core support for police forces in Wales will be £432.4 million.

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.

The Home Office has taken the decision to transfer funding for Special Branch out of the Police Main Grant to the Counter-Terrorism Policing Grant, in line with 2021-22 budget. As the total amount being transferred is based on forces’ 2021-22 budget and will remain at that for 2022-23, the transfer will have a zero net impact for police forces.

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 5.9% for 2022-23, before the adjustment made for the transfer of Special Branch funding, when compared with 2021-22.

In 2022-23, the balance of funding between the Home Office and the Welsh Government will change.  The overall level of funding the police receive will not decrease but the proportion of direct Home Office funding will increase.  This is the result of a Home Office decision to end an annual transfer of funding to the Welsh Government and instead provide it directly through the Police Grant and Top‑Up Grant. This will result in the Welsh Government contribution to policing reducing by £29.93 million. This is purely an administrative change and will not result in any change in overall funding for any police force.

As a result I propose to set the Welsh Government’s contribution to police funding for 2022-23 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. Today’s announcement marks the start of a consultation period which will end on 13 January 2022. Following this, allocations may be revised for the Final Settlement.

Police settlement: provisional 2022 to 2023

Police Revenue Funding

Notes:

1. Since the 2015 Comprehensive Spending Review, the Home Office has made an annual transfer of funding to the Welsh Government in order for the Welsh Government to deliver its agreed contribution to police funding in Wales. From 2022-23 onwards, this additional funding will no longer be transferred and will, instead, be delivered by the Home Office through the Police Grant and Top Up Grant. This will result in the Welsh Government contribution to policing reducing by £29.93 million. This is purely an administrative change and will not result in any change in overall funding for any Police Force.
2. This is the amount of police grant set out in section 3 of the Police Grant Report which includes the allocation under 'Principal Formula' and 'Add Rule 1' (columns a and b) plus the amount 'floor funding' that the Home Office has made available.
3. Figures for 2022-23 are shown before the adjustment made for the transfer of Special Branch funding, as outlined in paragraph 4.8 of the Police Grant Report.