Rebecca Evans MS, Minister for Finance and Local Government
Today, I am publishing proposals for the Welsh Government’s component of funding to Police and Crime Commissioners in Wales for 2024-25. 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 2024-25 the total core support for police forces in Wales will be £459.8 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.
As a result, I propose to set the Welsh Government’s contribution to police funding for 2024-25 at £113.47 million. As in previous years, the Home Office has overlaid its needs-based formula with a top-up mechanism funded by the Home Office. 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.
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 10 January 2024. Following this, allocations may be revised for the Final Settlement.
This information is also published on the Welsh Government’s website at: