Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what period of time her Department has allocated funding for additional neighbourhood police officers; and whether individual police forces will need to cover the ongoing costs of these officers through local precepting.

The 2025-26 final police funding settlement provides funding of up to £19.6 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an increase of up to £1.1 billion when compared to 2024-25 and includes £200.0 million to kickstart the recruitment of new neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs in communities across the country.

This will support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood personnel as part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee in 2025-26. This major investment supports our commitment on safer streets and reflects the scale of the challenges that many forces face .

Setting the police precept is a matter for individual Police and Crime Commissioners taking into account the views of the local community and Police and Crime Panels.