Information

Request

1. Any policies, guidelines, or frameworks used to determine the allocation of OFPCC funds across different areas or wards within the OFPCC’s jurisdiction.
2. Data or records that show expenditure patterns for OFPCC funds, categorized by geographical areas in relation to the location of those contributing council tax.
3. Any reports, reviews, or analyses conducted by the OFPCC that examine the relationship between council tax contributions and the allocation of expenditure.

 Response

The Office of Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner does not hold the information requested.  However, we are happy to provide some explanation and information that may of interest as follows:

For context, the PFCC is the recipient of all funding for both Fire and Policing.  This includes all the grant funding from the government for Policing and Fire, Business Rates for Fire & Rescue and funding raised through the Council Tax precept.  The Office of the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) does not have any policies, guidelines, or frameworks used to determine the allocation of OPFCC funds across different geographical areas or wards within Northamptonshire. Nor does the OPFCC have any data or records that show expenditure patterns for OPFCC funds, categorised by geographical areas in relation to the location of those contributing council tax or any reports, reviews, or analyses conducted by the OPFCC that examine the relationship between council tax contributions and the allocation of expenditure.

Whilst the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner is responsible for setting the overall budget and precept for Northamptonshire Police and Fire, the operational prioritisation of the majority of these funds are delegated to the Chief Fire Officer and the Chief Constable, with a governance framework in place to determine responsibilities and delegated limits in line with legislation.  As an example, the Policing Protocol Order 2011 specifically states that the PFCC must not fetter the operational independence of the police force and the Chief Constable who leads it.

The Police and Fire Chiefs will allocate resources to meet demand and risk, in line with operational priorities.  Some of this will be local but a large proportion of budgets will relate to centralised functions (such as the control room for answering 999 calls), specialist teams and purchase/maintenance of assets that benefit the whole county.

Details of budgets, income and expenditure can found on our website here: Information – Northamptonshire Police & Fire Commissioner

For 2025/26, funding to Fire is made up of around 24% from national grants with the balance of 76% from local business rates and local council tax precept. Funding to Police is made up of 56% of national police grants and 44% from local council tax precept.  The net operational police budget allocated to the Chief Constable for 2025/26 is £183.805m, an increase of over £6.5m from 2024/25. This means that in 2025-26, the PFCC allocated around 94.7% of the £194m budget directly to the Chief Constable to deliver operational police services.

The remaining 2.9% was set aside for specific interventions and delivery services managed by the Office of the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) and 2.4% is to fund capital expenditure.  In 2025/26, the running costs of the OPFCC makes up approximately 0.7% of the total operational police budget for the year.  Specific details are available here: OPFCC budget Archives – Northamptonshire Police & Fire Commissioner

Also, the OPFCC has historically been successful in securing funds through the Government’s Safer Streets Fund which aims to help police and crime commissioners, local authorities and their partners secure extra resources and tools to neighbourhood crime, violence against women and girls (VAWG) and anti-social behaviour (ASB). Funding is invested in “hotspot” areas that are persistently and disproportionately affected by crime and qualify for extra help to make the community safer.

The OPFCC cannot allocate Safer Streets money unless it meets the strict criteria set out by the Home Office.

The key criteria are:

1. that areas have a defined, but not necessarily adjoined geography
2. that the intervention area is a suitable size to enable effective targeting

iii. that the areas are persistently and disproportionately affected by one or more neighbourhood crime types