The Department recognised that the Formula was out of date but told us that, as there was no credible alternative available, it was confident that it was appropriate to use the existing formula to allocate the 20,000 officers.44 The National Audit Office, however, reported that because the Department has used the outdated formula to allocate officers to forces, it was likely the distribution of additional officers did not align to current or future policing needs. Police forces expressed conc...

The Department recognised that the Formula was out of date but told us that, as there was no credible alternative available, it was confident that it was appropriate to use the existing formula to allocate the 20,000 officers.44 The National Audit Office, however, reported that because the Department has used the outdated formula to allocate officers to forces, it was likely the distribution of additional officers did not align to current or future policing needs. Police forces expressed concerns to the NAO about their ability to maintain a balanced workforce within likely future funding settlements.45 We challenged the Department on whether Type: conclusion | Number: 29 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 4. PAC conclusion: We are concerned that the distribution of new officers may not give police forces what they need to respond to the demands they face. 4. PAC recommendation: The Department should set out, as part of its Treasury Minute response, by when it will