13. Debate: The Police Settlement 2022-23

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:11 pm on 15 February 2022.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 6:11, 15 February 2022

Diolch, Llywydd, and I thank Members for their interest and their contributions today, and it's very clear the respect that we all have for the work of the police and what they do in our communities across Wales, clearly being an absolutely key part of our public service family, working with health boards, local councils and other partners. 

I'll respond to some of the specific points relating to the motion in front of us today. First of all, the point was raised in terms of the devolution of policing. Of course, Welsh Government made clear our support for policing to be devolved. It is the only emergency service that isn't devolved, and I think that remedying this would enable stronger joint working with the other emergency services in Wales. And it would also enable future legislation affecting policing and community safety in Wales to be properly tailored to our Welsh circumstance, and it would be a safeguard against legislative changes being made that the Senedd does not agree with. 

The point about a review of the formula is very important, and there is currently a review of that formula in progress, with UK Government Ministers having confirmed their intention to complete this work before the next general election. The Home Office does recognise that the current police funding formula is out of date and no longer accurately reflects the demands on policing, and it is committed to introducing a new formula that fairly and transparently distributes the core grant funding to the 43 police forces in England and Wales. So, there's a technical phase of the review that's now under way, and that will deliver proposals for new funding arrangements, and a senior sector group and technical reference group has been convened with representation from the policing sector and relevant experts to lead on the development of the formula. The Home Office will work closely with the sector throughout the review, and any proposals will obviously be subject to a full consultation. But it's important to us that the views of this Senedd and the Welsh Government are taken to the heart of that review. 

We do continue to work with the police to identify and take forward any opportunities that we see here in Wales, as identified by our commitment to increasing our 500 community support officers to 600 officers. And we continue to make clear our support for policing to be devolved, as I said, so that we can deliver against the needs, priorities and values of Wales.