Plans to scrap police grants that provide funding to forces if required officer numbers are reached are underway by the UK Home Office.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will write to police chiefs in England and Wales informing them the Officer Maintenance Grant is being scrapped and replaced with protected funding for neighbourhood policing.
Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson introduced the police grant in 2019 to fulfil the Conservative Party’s manifesto pledge to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers by 2023.
Despite this, the target was reached, the labour government has criticised the funding for placing too many officers in administrative positions instead of frontline duties.
However, total officer numbers fell between March 2024 and March 2025, marking the first year-on-year decline since 2018.
Police leaders last year warned they could struggle to meet the Labour government’s pledge to recruit an additional 13,000 officers by 2029.
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In October, shadow home secretary Chris Philp stated that the Conservative Party had “delivered record-ever police numbers in March 2024” while in office.
“It is staggering that Labour has now presided over a fall of 1,313 police officers already,” he said.
“Labour has let down policing and has let down the public.”
The government noted there has been an increase in the number of trained police officers in desk-based support roles, including HR and IT support, since the grant was introduced.
A government source revealed the Conservatives had “devastated neighbourhood policing across the country with a decade of austerity”.
“They then tried to desperately recruit more officers to make up their targets – but forces ended up with more officers behind desks doing HR and admin,” the source added.
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