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The results of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) 2007 are due to be announced later this year. The review will determine the funding allocated to the police service for the years 2008-09 to 2010-11.
There has been significant investment in the police service in recent years. Our short inquiry into police funding considered how this investment has been reflected in police performance and crime reduction, and the scale and implications of a possible tighter funding settlement for the CSR period.
A significant drop in overall crime as measured by the British Crime Survey (BCS) occurred between 1995 and 2001 but the downward trend has levelled off since then. In contrast, the bulk of additional police funding was provided during the second half of the last decade, from 2000-01 to 2004-05. It follows that the significant decrease in overall BCS-measured crime occurred before any significant increase in police funding or police officer numbers. Although it is difficult to draw firm conclusions from high-level data on overall crime and funding levels, the reduction in overall crime levels does not seem to have been directly related to additional resources.
Recent assessments by HM Treasury and the Audit Commission confirm that there is scope for significant further improvement in police use of resources. We consider it unacceptable that the significant recent investment in the police is not being used to maximum effect. We recommend that senior police leadership must demonstrate that they are making concerted and sustained efforts to target their resources effectively so as to achieve the Audit Commission's level 4 'strong performance' rating—which to date has not been achieved by any of the forces in England and Wales.
The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the Association of Police Authorities identify a funding shortfall for the CSR years, which, they argue, will be substantial. Our police witnesses and the Government were in agreement that the settlement will, at least, see a lower rate of increase in the investment the police have enjoyed over the last few years. The precise scale of the settlement, and any related shortfall, remains unclear.
Over the last ten years the proportion of total police funding raised through precept on council tax has risen from 13.0% in 1997-98 to 21.5% in 2006-07. The Government has made clear that it expects council tax increases for 2007-08 onward not to exceed 5% per annum. We recommend that the Government should look again at the specific question of whether it is appropriate for police precept to remain effectively capped at 5% in line with other local authority budget increase limits. The Government should commission research into the reasons behind the considerable disparity in the amount of police precept raised by different forces, and what might be done to reduce this.
We conclude that if the CSR settlement is as tight as seems likely, police authorities will need to work closely with forces to identify where there are less urgent programmes or activities which could be scaled back or postponed if need be. Any new initiatives from the centre should take full account of local funding implications.
The Government maintains that any shortfall in the funding settlement will need to be met by increased efficiencies, either cash-releasing or capacity-building. We conclude that the Government must be specific and realistic about the scale and nature of efficiencies it expects the police to make.
Shared services were identified in 2004 as a key element of the police efficiency agenda. Police witnesses recognised that in principle shared services can engender significant efficiencies, although they were cautious about whether savings could be released in the short term. The evidence suggests that the police are being sluggish in developing shared services. We recommend that the Home Office should keep under review its policy of not mandating police forces in this regard.
Effective delegation of resources management to Basic Command Unit level makes a significant contribution to the efficient use of resources. It is regrettable that many forces seem not to have fully implemented the recent Home Office guidance on delegation. We recommend that ACPO and Police Authorities exert pressure on individual forces to implement the guidance.
We heard from the Police Federation that significant numbers of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are being deployed inside police stations rather than on front-line duties. We were concerned to hear this as the intended purpose of PCSOs was to provide a more visible public policing presence, which requires that they should be out on the street for the maximum possible time. We recommend that the Government commission independent research into how PCSOs are being used, as a matter of priority. We also welcome the offer of research on the same subject from the Police Federation.
We acknowledge that there is a minimum amount of paperwork required for police casework. However we consider that the proportion of police officer time spent on paperwork in each of the last three years, at about 20%, remains unacceptably high. There has been insufficient progress in introducing personal digital assistants, and we recommend that Chief Constables should ensure this technology is introduced in all forces as a matter of urgency.
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