Government support for public confidence in the police

A debate on ‘Government support for public confidence in the police’ will be held at 9:30 am on Wednesday 9 September in Westminster Hall. The debate will be led by Jonathan Hinder (Labour).

Public confidence in the police is affected by a wide range of factors, including how effectively the police investigate crime, the effectiveness of police vetting, the police complaints process and neighbourhood policing.

The Starmer government made increasing public confidence in the police central to one of its five “missions to rebuild Britain”. In April 2025, it announced the ‘Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee’ to increase public confidence by supporting local policing. In January 2026, it published a white paper on police reform which outlined measures that it said were also intended to increase public confidence in the police.

This briefing focuses on UK Government support for public confidence in the police in England and Wales, for which it is responsible.

Policing is a devolved matter in Scotland and is the responsibility of the Scottish Government.

Policing is also a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive.

What affects public confidence in the police?

Public confidence in the police is affected by a wide range of factors, including, but not limited to:

• how effectively the police investigate crime
• the effectiveness of police vetting
• the police complaints process
• neighbourhood policing

How effectively the police investigate crime

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) is the statutory body responsible for investigating the effectiveness of police forces and fire and rescue services in England and Wales. It has said that “The effective investigation of crime is fundamental to the legitimacy of policing and to public confidence.”

HMICFRS has also said that how the police communicate about high-profile investigations is vital for maintaining public confidence.

Effectiveness of police vetting

The College of Policing says that the purpose of police vetting is to “identify assess and manage” a range of risks, including “public trust and confidence” in the police.

Following the murder of Sarah Everard in March 2021, HMICFRS conducted An inspection of vetting, misconduct, and misogyny in the police service. The review said that effective vetting was vital for the public to have confidence in the police:

If the police are to restore public confidence in the service, and the support they lost in the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder, it is vital that their recruitment and vetting arrangements are robust.

Police complaints process

HMICFRS’ State of Policing report 2024/25 said that effective complaint processes are “essential to police legitimacy”. It also said that public confidence in the police relies on effective accountability if the police fail to act appropriately:

The public must be confident that police officers and police forces will act appropriately but also that there is recourse and accountability if they don’t.

This sentiment was echoed by the government in the terms of reference for its end-to-end review of the police accountability system, which lists improving public confidence as one of its aims :

• improving public, including victim and witness, confidence in the police accountability system to sustain public legitimacy

Neighbourhood policing  

HMICFRS’ State of Policing report 2024/25 said that most people who have contact with the police do so through their local neighbourhood policing team, and that neighbourhood policing is therefore central to the public’s perception of, and confidence in, the police in general:

Unless they report a crime, law-abiding people tend not to have much, if any, interaction with the police. For those who do have contact with the police, it is mostly through neighbourhood policing. If they have a good experience with their local neighbourhood team, their confidence in the police generally is likely to improve.

How is public confidence in the police assessed?

Public confidence in the police is assessed in several ways. Notable among these are the Office for National Statistics’ Crime Survey for England and Wales, the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s public perceptions tracker, YouGov polling and HMICFRS reports.

Office for National Statistics’ Crime Survey for England and Wales

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is a yearly survey that is carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the recognised national statistical institute of the UK.

The ONS says that the CSEW is a “hugely important means for the Government to understand the true level of crime.” It says that the survey finds out about “crimes which do not get reported to, or recorded by, the police.”

The survey also asks respondents how they feel about aspects of policing and crime in England and Wales, including their overall confidence in local police and their overall confidence in the criminal justice system.

Independent Office for Police Conduct’s public perceptions tracker

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is a non-departmental public body that oversees the police complaints system in England and Wales. It is sponsored by the Home Office.

The IOPC is legally responsible for maintaining public confidence in the police complaints system. In upholding this responsibility, it assesses public confidence in the police and the police complaints system by collecting and analysing data from regular surveys of members of the public. It refers to this data as its ‘public perceptions tracker.’ The IOPC publishes a public perceptions tracker summary report each year. The most recent public perceptions tracker summary report is for 2024/25.

YouGov polling

YouGov is an online polling organisation based in the UK.

YouGov conducts ongoing surveys that assess ‘How much confidence Brits have in police to deal with crime’ and ‘Are the police doing a good job?’ The surveys have been held around once a month since July 2019.

HMICFRS reports

HMICFRS is the statutory body responsible for assessing the effectiveness of police forces in England and Wales.

HMICFRS conducts local inspections of the 43 police forces in England and Wales, as well as specialist inspections and national analysis, including its yearly state of policing reports. Its yearly reports frequently discuss public confidence in the police.

How much confidence does the public have in the police?

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) for the year ending March 2026 shows that around half of all respondents reported that their local police were doing a good or excellent job (49%); this has decreased compared with a decade ago (63% in the year ending March 2016 survey).

_{Source: ONS, Perception and experience of police and criminal justice system, England and Wales, table 1, 23 July 2026}

The survey data for the year ending March 2026 also shows that:

• Around two-thirds of respondents reported that they had confidence in the local police (67%).
  • This was the same as the previous year (also 67%) but lower compared with 10 years ago (79% in the year ending March 2016 survey).
• Around 1 in 8 respondents reported seeing police officers or police community support officers on foot patrol in their local area once a week or more (12%).
  • This has decreased from around 3 in 10 in the year ending March 2016 survey (27%), and from around 4 in 10 at its peak in the year ending March 2011 survey (39%).
• Respondents who had been a victim of crime in the last 12 months and reported it to the police were satisfied with the police response in around half of crime incidents (54%).
  • This was a decrease compared with the year ending March 2016 survey (72%).
• Around 45% of respondents reported that they were confident that the criminal justice system as a whole is effective.
  • This was a decrease compared with its peak in the year ending March 2016 survey (54%).
• Around 3 in 5 respondents reported that they agreed that the criminal justice system as a whole is fair (59%).
  • This was a decrease compared with its peak in the year ending March 2018 survey (69%).

How does the government support public confidence in the police?

The Starmer government made “safer streets” one of its “five missions to deliver a decade of national renewal”. It said that building confidence in policing was central to the safer streets mission and, as part of this, it launched the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee to support local policing.

The government has also said planned broader reforms of the police system in England and Wales will help to increase public confidence in the police.

Safer streets mission

The 2024 Labour Party manifesto identified “five missions to rebuild Britain”. The third of these was “Take back our streets by halving serious violent crime and raising confidence in the police and criminal justice system to its highest levels.”

The government provided more information about its missions in a policy document entitled ‘Plan for Change’, which it published in December 2024. It said that the safer streets mission required public confidence in policing to increase, and that it would introduce a ‘Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee’ to achieve this.

The gov.uk webpage containing information about the Plan for Change was archived on 17 July 2026, the day on which Andy Burnham was officially elected leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Since entering office on 20 July, the Burnham government has not made any announcements about the five missions outlined in the plan.

Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee

On 9 April 2025, the then Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, announced the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. The accompanying government press release said “Communities will be safer and trust in local policing will be restored under plans to put police officers back in our neighbourhoods”.

On 10 April 2025, the government published the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee Performance Framework, which it said would show how it was “measuring progress on the neighbourhood policing guarantee.” It said that the guarantee had five pillars:

1. Police back on the beat […]

2. Community-led policing […]

3. Clear performance standards and professional excellence […]

4. Crackdown on anti-social behaviour […]

5. Safer town centres […]

On 9 April 2025, the then Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, wrote a letter to the Chair of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, Dame Karen Bradley, to outline the changes that would be introduced under the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee (PDF). The letter said that by the end of the Parliament there would be:

• 13,000 additional police officers, police community support officers (PCSOs) and special constables in neighbourhood policing roles
• standardised crime-reporting processes across forces
• enhanced additional training for neighbourhood officers
• new publicly available data on neighbourhood policing to allow for comparison between areas
• minimal moving of neighbourhood officers to ensure presence and visibility

Police reform white paper

On 26 January 2026, the Starmer government published a white paper on police reform.

The white paper said falling confidence in the police was one of the main reasons that reform was required. The government said that the proposed reforms in the white paper “represent the most significant changes to policing in this country in nearly 200 years.” It said the changes would create:

• “Better policing for local communities” by, for example, increasing neighbourhood policing, using AI to automate manual processes, and abolishing police and crime commissioners and replacing them with directly elected mayors
• “A stronger policing system” by, for example, “significantly” reducing the number of police forces, creating Local Policing Areas and creating the National Police Service to bring together existing national policing bodies
• “Consistently high standards” by creating a new Police Performance Framework
• “Modern capabilities” by, for example, creating a Licence to Practise for police officers, supporting officer wellbeing and introducing a National Centre for AI in Policing

The government said that its safer streets mission (see above) had already set out part of its plans to improve public confidence in the police, but that it was necessary to “go further”.

Stakeholder commentary

A range of stakeholders have analysed the government’s attempts to support public confidence in the police through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee and the 2026 police reform white paper.

Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee

The government’s attempts to meet the targets it set for its Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee have recently been examined and reported on by Full Fact and BBC News. 

Full Fact

Full Fact, an independent UK fact-checking organisation, is conducting an ongoing assessment of the government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee and its “key headline measure” of recruiting 13,000 additional local police officers.

In June 2026, Full Fact concluded that the government was on track to achieve the aim because it had exceeded its first-year officer recruitment target.

BBC News

In July 2026, BBC News reported that the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) had redeployed almost 140 police officers to neighbourhood teams.

The article reported that PCC Simon Foster had “defended” the decision by saying the redeployment was helping to meet the National Policing Guarantee.

Police reform white paper

Some of the measures in the police reform white paper – the proposed National Police Service in particular – have been questioned by stakeholders.

Parliamentary scrutiny

In July 2026, Sir Julian Smith (Conservative) asked the Home Secretary about her plans “to ensure democratic oversight of policing” under the proposed reforms to merge police forces. The Home Office Minister, Sarah Jones, responded by saying that the government was working “to ensure policing and police governance bodies remain embedded within local systems.”

In March 2026, Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative) asked the Home Secretary about the potential maximum and minimum sizes of the proposed new police forces. The Home Office Minister, Sarah Jones, responded by saying that proposed force sizes would be informed by the Independent review of police force structures (this is yet to be published at the time of writing).

Association of Police and Crime Commissioners

The Chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, Emily Spurrell, said that she welcomed the white paper’s focus on neighbourhood policing.

However, she said that concentrating police power in the hands of the Home Secretary and the Commissioner of the new National Police Service would bring “enormous risks” that would need to be balanced by “robust scrutiny and oversight”.

JUSTICE UK

JUSTICE UK, a cross-party charity that advocates for justice reform, said that the government’s focus on neighbourhood policing needed to be accompanied by “effective diversionary schemes”.

It also said although the government was “justified in prioritising efficiency”, “the importance of governance structures that embed accountability from the outset” were important.

Spotlight on Corruption

Spotlight on Corruption, a UK non-profit organisation that examines corruption, said that the white paper’s proposed National Police Service created opportunities to address recruitment and retention problems in the National Crime Agency and the police.

However, it also said that giving the Home Secretary the power to direct police strategies created the risk of the police being weaponised, and added that “the correct checks and balances” needed to be put in place to prevent this from happening.

Further information

• Commons Library briefing, Policing in the UK: Current structures and proposals for reform
• Commons Library collection, Police standards

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