Police service is 'broken' and 'shedding' officers, top officers warn Rachel Reeves
9 June 2025, 00:51 | Updated: 9 June 2025, 10:45
Lack of funding means police forces are 'shedding' officers and staff, the heads of two police bodies have warned ahead of the Spending Review.
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The two officers warned that the police force is losing officers in droves due to funding cuts, while forces are left with no choice but to cut further jobs to save money.
Nick Smart, the president of the Police Superintendents’ Association, and Tiff Lynch, acting national chairman for the Police Federation of England and Wales, two bodies that represent ordinary officers and superintendents, said police morale has been "crushed."
In a joint article written for The Telegraph, the two wrote: “The service is in crisis. When a young constable looks down at their payslip and wonders how they’ll make rent this month, something is deeply wrong."
“When experienced detectives walk away from decades of service, broken by the demands placed on them, it’s the police service itself that’s broken.”
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They add later: “Police forces across the country are being forced to shed officers and staff to deliver savings. These are not administrative cuts. They go to the core of policing’s ability to deliver a quality service: fewer officers on the beat, longer wait times for victims, and less available officers when crisis hits.”
The last-minute warning by the two officers puts further pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves as she prepares to set police budgets in her spending review.
The outcome of the review will be revealed on Wednesday and will set three years of departmental budgets.
Ms Reeves settled negotiations with Angela Rayner, the Communities Secretary, on Sunday night, leaving only negotiations with Yvette Cooper over the Home Office budget, which includes policing, to be finalised.
The policing budget will get a real-terms increase in the next three years, which Ms Reeves will present as a boost to tackle crime, according to the Telegraph.
Police sources have warned there could still be a drop in the number of total police officers in the coming years if not enough money is granted.
The intervention from the two top officers is the latest from police leaders, who have launched a public lobbying effort in an attempt to secure more funds amid fears of cuts in the spending review.
Police chiefs have said that Labour’s election pledges to halve violence against women and girls, tackle knife crime and rebuild neighbourhood policing are at risk without adequate funding.
Sir Mark Rowley, head of the Metropolitan Police, said that cuts would mean some crimes would have to be ignored.
The total number of police officers in England and Wales peaked at 149,000 in March 2024. It is expected to fall this year, despite Labour allocating an extra £1.2 billion in funding.
The Metropolitan Police is reducing its police officer headcount by 1,500 this year, even with the extra investment, as pay increases take up much of the funding.
