Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the specific assessments made in the five-factor simplified model for assessing the need for police funding; and what evidence there is that that model is the best way to assess such funding needs.

The simplified model is based on an understanding of the drivers of crime and police demand and uses objective indicators based on demographic, socio-economic and environmental factors to determine force level allocations.

The simplified model is based on three broad elements that, while not themselves drivers of individual criminal activity, correlate highly and strongly with long term patterns of crime and overall police demand: • population levels; • the underlying characteristics of a local population; and • the environmental characteristics of police force areas

The Government has assessed the simplified model against five guiding principles – robustness, stability, transparency, incentives and future proofing – and has concluded that it meets those principles.

Public consultation on the model has now closed and we received over 1,700 responses. We are refining our proposed model in light of this feedback and are engaging further with Police and Crime Commissioners and forces as part of this process.