Research Note 123 | 30 December 2012
“Visible and available” policing: The most and least efficient forces Peter Cuthbertson With spending restraint needed across the board, it is vital that police forces improve their efficiency. Crime prevention does not have to suffer. This report reveals figures for each police force – gathered using data from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary – and compares how many police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are “visible and available”. That is the best measure of the extent to which a police force can get officers out on the beat. This new research shows that forces can do more to focus resources on frontline, visible policing. It provides a benchmark for the new Police and Crime Commissioners, who control police budgets and set the forces’ priorities. While much of the work done by forces that isn't visible has value, the amount of the amount of frontline visible policing for a given amount of spending is still a good proxy for value for money. Communities value officers on the streets and their ability to respond quickly in the event of a crime. The key findings of this research are:
On average, only 11.8 per cent of officers and PCSOs are “visible and available” to the public at any one time. This works out as £792,851 per year for every visible and available police officer and PCSO. £10 million buys an average of 13.7 visible and available police and PCSOs at any one time.
By comparison, the total police budget for England and Wales is £13.2 billion, supporting the work of 149,000 police officers and Police and Community Support Officers. This works out as £88,615 for each police officer and PCSO.
The forces with the highest share of police visible and available are West Yorkshire Police (16.3 per cent), Cleveland Police (15.8 per cent), Norfolk Constabulary (15 per cent) and Nottinghamshire Police (15 per cent).
The forces with the lowest share of police visible and available are City of London (7.2 per cent), Warwickshire Police Force (8.7 per cent), West Midlands (10.0 per cent), Derbyshire Constabulary (10.2 per cent) and the Metropolitan Police (10.2 per cent).
55 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QL www.taxpayersalliance.com 0845 330 9554 (office hours) 07795 084 113 (24 hours)
1
The City of London Police and Metropolitan Police have among the highest average costs per officer. For every £10 million spent, the City provides 86 officers and PCSOs (5.5 “visible and available” on average) and the Met provides 98 (8.9 “visible and available”). The City of London Police spends £1,813,871 for every officer or PCSO visible and available while the Met spends £1,120,342. It is worth noting that the City of London police and the Met have specific responsibilities for financial crime and antiterrorism respectively. This reduces the amount of time that officers are able to be visible and available.
Outside London, the police forces with the highest cost per visible and available officer/PCSO are: - Warwickshire: £1,224,102 (8.2 visible and available for every £10 million spent on policing) - Northamptonshire: £955,968 (10.5 visible and available for every £10 million spent on policing) - Wiltshire: £931,846 (10.7 visible and available for every £10 million spent on policing) - Derbyshire: £931,826 (10.7 visible and available for every £10 million spent on policing) - Surrey: £842,711 (11.9 visible and available for every £10 million spent on policing)
The police forces with the lowest cost per visible and available officer/PCSO are: - Northumbria: £475,459 (21 visible and available for every £10 million spent on policing) - West Yorkshire: £521,971 (19.2 visible and available for every £10 million spent on policing) - Cleveland: £539,186 (18.5 visible and available for every £10 million spent on policing) - Nottinghamshire: £607,041 (16.5 visible and available for every £10 million spent on policing) - Norfolk: £616,242 (16.2 visible and available for every £10 million spent on policing) To arrange broadcast interviews, please contact: Robert Oxley Campaign Manager, TaxPayers' Alliance robert.oxley@taxpayersalliance.com 07544 933 215 To discuss the research, please contact: John O’Connell Research Director, TaxPayers' Alliance john.oconnell@taxpayersalliance.com 07708 506 643 55 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QL www.taxpayersalliance.com 0845 330 9554 (office hours) 07795 084 113 (24 hours)
2
Police Force budgets compared to officer & PCSO strength, visibility and availability Police Force
London, City of Warwickshire Metropolitan Police Surrey Northamptonshire Wiltshire Suffolk North Wales Derbyshire Lincolnshire Hertfordshire Norfolk North Yorkshire Nottinghamshire Cheshire Cumbria Dorset Dyfed-Powys Staffordshire Cambridgeshire Hampshire Sussex South Yorkshire West Mercia Avon & Somerset
Total Expenditure (Gross, £)
101,789,000 100,218,000 3,602,845,000 223,090,000 138,116,000 116,437,000 126,788,000 154,493,000 185,900,000 117,149,000 203,305,000 163,055,000 143,978,000 215,863,000 197,666,000 109,242,000 134,942,000 107,376,000 192,222,000 135,453,000 336,487,000 292,822,000 268,637,000 215,774,000 295,605,000
Total Number of Officers and PCSOs (February 2012) 876 958 35,163 2,214 1,398 1,226 1,355 1,660 2,008 1,284 2,230 1,800 1,593 2,399 2,217 1,228 1,519 1,209 2,166 1,529 3,819 3,338 3,064 2,462 3,392
Expenditure Per Total Officer and PCSO (£)
116,197 104,612 102,461 100,763 98,795 94,973 93,570 93,068 92,580 91,238 91,168 90,586 90,382 89,980 89,159 88,959 88,836 88,814 88,745 88,589 88,109 87,724 87,675 87,642 87,148
Average Proportion of Officers and PCSOs Visible and Available (%) 7.2 8.7 10.2 12.3 10.5 10.5 12.8 13.0 10.2 11.5 12.4 15.0 13.6 15.0 13.6 13.6 13.0 14.0 12.8 12.1 10.7 13.0 11.9 12.6 10.6
Expenditure Per Average Total Officer and PCSO Visible and Available
Total Number of Officers and PCSOs Per £10m Spent
1,813,871 1,224,102 1,120,342 842,711 955,968 931,846 760,568 719,733 931,826 814,311 773,156 616,242 667,988 607,041 687,145 665,275 684,961 657,761 704,922 765,759 827,240 733,321 753,233 722,569 826,654
55 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QL www.taxpayersalliance.com 0845 330 9554 (office hours) 07795 084 113 (24 hours)
86 96 98 99 101 105 107 107 108 110 110 110 111 111 112 112 113 113 113 113 113 114 114 114 115
3
Total Number of Officers and PCSOs Visible and Available, per £10m spent 5.5 8.2 8.9 11.9 10.5 10.7 13.1 13.9 10.7 12.3 12.9 16.2 15.0 16.5 14.6 15.0 14.6 15.2 14.2 13.1 12.1 13.6 13.3 13.8 12.1
Police Force
Thames Valley South Wales Humberside Bedfordshire Leicestershire Gloucestershire Durham Kent Devon & Cornwall West Yorkshire Cleveland Essex Gwent Greater Manchester Lancashire Merseyside West Midlands Northumbria
Total Expenditure (Gross, £)
423,599,000 278,586,000 181,845,000 110,071,000 200,116,000 116,110,000 124,750,000 315,320,000 294,699,000 485,600,000 138,046,000 301,908,000 129,573,000 650,594,000 286,648,000 349,061,000 627,069,000 311,576,000
Total Number of Officers and PCSOs (February 2012) 4,861 3,217 2,109 1,279 2,370 1,403 1,509 3,843 3,599 5,996 1,713 3,802 1,633 8,343 3,708 4,630 8,559 4,328
Expenditure Per Total Officer and PCSO (£)
87,142 86,598 86,223 86,060 84,437 82,758 82,672 82,050 81,884 80,987 80,587 79,408 79,347 77,981 77,305 75,391 73,264 71,991
Average Proportion of Officers and PCSOs Visible and Available (%)
Expenditure Per Average Total Officer and PCSO Visible and Available
13.1 11.7 11.4 12.6 12.8 12.7 10.7 11.6
678,098 763,036 772,229 694,421 694,621 675,318 781,322 721,721
Not available
Not available
16.3 15.8 12.3 13.1 10.7 11.6 12.3 10.0 15.2
521,971 539,186 654,638 666,613 754,651 696,550 643,494 752,570 475,459
Total Number of Officers and PCSOs Per £10m Spent
55 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QL www.taxpayersalliance.com 0845 330 9554 (office hours) 07795 084 113 (24 hours)
115 115 116 116 118 121 121 122 122 123 124 126 126 128 129 133 136 139
4
Total Number of Officers and PCSOs Visible and Available, per £10m spent 14.7 13.1 12.9 14.4 14.4 14.8 12.8 13.9 Not available
19.2 18.5 15.3 15.0 13.3 14.4 15.5 13.3 21.0