Police forces facing £700m budget shortfall by 2026, warns Unison
Police forces in England and Wales could face a combined budget shortfall of more than £700 million by 2026, according to Unison.
The data, based on medium-term financial plans submitted by individual police forces to their local police and crime panels, reveals “drastic cuts” to the spending planned, says the union.
Unison says its analysis of these police financial forecasts reveals forces in England and Wales could face a combined budget shortfall of almost £721 million by 2026, potentially putting public safety at risk.
It said the worst affected is the Metropolitan Police Service (£282 million), followed by West Midlands Police (£34 million) and Kent Police (£31 million). Together the three forces will have a combined budget deficit of £347 million by 2026.
The six forces in Unison’s Eastern region – Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk – share back-room functions with Kent as part of a seven-force strategic partnership. Combined, the forces face a shortfall of almost £110 million by 2026.
While forecasts are not set in stone, police budgets look likely to be several hundred million pounds short of what is needed, said Unison, which represents 33,000 police staff in forces in England and Wales.
As a result, tackling and preventing crimes such as anti-social behaviour, burglaries, violent assaults, organised crime and fraud could be compromised, the union warned.
“Many vital staff roles are already being kept vacant or have been cut altogether to save money,” it added.
“Cutting police staff jobs will also severely undermine the Government’s pledge to put more police on the streets,” Unison warns.
“This is because newly recruited officers will need to do the work once done by police staff whose jobs have now been cut.”
The data was released on Friday (June 16), and Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Without more funding to plug these huge budget shortfalls, public confidence in the police will continue to fall.
“With fewer police staff to investigate cases and smaller numbers of police and community support officers patrolling local neighbourhoods, there’s a risk crime rates will climb.
“Severe cuts to police budgets will leave many forces unable to protect communities or bring criminals to justice.
“Policing will become that much harder and those in staff jobs will be left feeling increasingly anxious about their futures.
“These figures are yet another warning sign that policing is in deep crisis. Ministers must ensure forces can afford to recruit the right staff to fulfil their duties so officers can be out on the streets, keeping people and their communities safe.”
Unison’s full list of forces in England and Wales can be found at https://www.unison.org.uk/content/uploads/2023/06/Police-shortfalls-table-130623-FINAL.pdf