Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster has confirmed he will be investing a record £187.8 million into policing in the West Midlands in 2026/2027 after his budget and local council tax proposal was unanimously passed by the all-party Police and Crime Panel.
This will mean the total net revenue budget for West Midlands Police, including national grant, will amount to £860.6 million.
The PCC is responsible for setting the budget and local council tax for West Midlands Police, which receives 80% of its funding from a central government grant, whilst 20% is funded via local council tax.
Each year, the PCC must set the police budget and council tax precept, balancing the need to invest in neighbourhood policing, preventing and tackling crime and keeping the people of the West Midlands safe and secure, with the pressures facing households during ongoing cost of living challenges.
The PCC said West Midlands Police is already significantly structurally under-resourced and under-funded. In the West Midlands, by April 2026, we expect to still have 520 fewer police officers and 500 fewer PCSOs than we had in 2010.
This is not even allowing for population growth, which means we should actually have a further 640 police officers more than in 2010. So, we are 1,160 police officers down on where we need to be, to return us to 2010 levels.
However, the vast majority of other police forces in the country now have as many police officers as they had in 2010, if not more police officers, than they have ever had in their force histories. That is deeply unfair to the people of the West Midlands.
In addition to that, the funding formula used to distribute police funding nationally also leaves the force £43 million short every year. As a region, we continue to be short changed and ripped off, when it comes to the allocation of police resources, the PCC said. In 2026/27, the force was facing a budget shortfall of £42.5 million.
The PCC took his proposal to the all-party Police and Crime Panel to raise the police part of council tax by £1.25 per month or £15.00 a year, for a typical band D property. This would still mean the West Midlands had the second lowest local council tax for policing in the country.
It is worth noting, however, that most properties in the West Midlands are in bands A and B and the cost increase for them, would be even lower – working out at £10 per year for a Band A and £11.67 per year for a Band B. The all-party Panel unanimously approved the Commissioners proposal.
The West Midlands Police Council Tax is currently the second lowest in the country at £229.50 per year for a Band D property and this increase will take it to £244.50.
Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster said: “I am pleased to be investing a record level £187.8 million into policing for the West Midlands. This is the total amount I have available to invest in the West Midlands Police budget for 2026/2027.
“I am doing that because, as your democratically elected Police and Crime Commissioner, my top priority is to provide West Midlands Police with the resources it needs to prevent and tackle crime, promote community safety and keep the people of the West Midlands safe and secure.
“In return for that investment, I will be holding West Midlands Police to account and working with the Acting Chief Constable to ensure that West Midlands Police does all within its power, to prevent and tackle crime, promote community safety and keep the people of the West Midlands safe and secure.
“For far too long, central government has failed to provide the police officers and investment that West Midlands Police needs. That is why we still have 520 fewer police officers and 500 fewer PCSOs than in 2010 and unfair funding that means £43 million a year less than we are entitled to.
“I am committed to doing all within my power to ensure that West Midlands Police has the investment and resources it needs to prevent and tackle crime, promote community safety and keep the people of the West Midlands safe and secure.”
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