Police forces will be forced to respond to emergency calls faster in England and Wales under new reforms. Too often, by the time police officers arrive to the scene of a crime, perpetrators and witnesses are long gone.
Under the new reforms, response officers will be expected to reach the scene of the most serious incidents within 15 minutes in cities and 20 minutes in rural areas, and forces will be expected to answer 999 phone calls within 10 seconds.
These new targets will ensure that all forces provide the same level of police response to crimes.
Currently, data on response times is collected differently across forces, and police are not held accountable if targets are not met. Reforming the system will create more transparency and consistency across the country.
Where forces fail to deliver, the Home Secretary will send in experts from the best performing forces to improve their performance, including when unmet response‑time targets are part of broader systemic failing.
To fight everyday crime, the government will ramp up its pledge to restore visible neighbourhood policing and patrols in communities through an extension of its Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
This has already placed named, contactable officers in each neighbourhood. Under the extension, every council ward in England and Wales will have its own named, contactable officers, creating more local points of contact and giving officers a deeper understanding of the issues in their area.
Residents will be able to speak to officers directly to raise individual crimes and anti-social behaviour, and will be guaranteed a response to neighbourhood queries within 72 hours, outlining the steps being taken to address these issues.
Work is underway to review and reduce the unnecessary recording of non-crime incidents while police funding reform will give forces the flexibility to move officers from support roles to the frontline. The government will also scrap the Office Maintenance Grant, marking a significant shift to put more officers in communities.
The Neighbourhood Policing Pathway, a new training programme, has been set up to ensure that neighbourhood officers have the tools to gather intelligence and catch offenders. The programme has been piloted in 11 forces and is currently being expanded across the country to deliver a consistent, high-quality service across forces.
A new white paper titled ‘From local to national: a new model for policing’, outlines a blueprint for reform, so local forces protect their community, and national policing protects us all. Alongside these reforms, police forces in England and Wales will receive the largest investment in British history to keep communities safe. The government is investing a record £18.4 billion to restore neighbourhood policing, cut crime and catch criminals. This is an increase of over £3 billion and an 11% real terms increase compared to 2023/24.
John Hayward-Cripps, Chief Executive of Neighbourhood Watch, said:
"It's a very basic expectation that police will respond when you report a crime, and quickly when it is serious. When that doesn't happen, it's not just frustrating, it is very stressful and it damages trust. The data shows that there is real variation in how well different forces respond to incidents. Police effectiveness, and the trust we place in the police, is built on the relationships that they have and maintain with the public.
“Therefore, the government introducing national standards and, crucially, the resource required to meet them is a welcome step forward. But restoring confidence won't happen overnight, the police need to take the time to engage meaningfully with their communities too, which most of them are doing."