In 2015, our predecessor Committee concluded that the Home Office’s “hands off” approach to monitoring police forces had limited its ability to ensure value for money.13 The Home Office told us it is now adopting a stronger central role and has established a Police Standards and Performance Improvements Directorate. As part of this, it will introduce a new police performance framework and performance dashboard to improve its understanding of what is happening in forces and hold them to account.14 The Home Office told us that it is also investing in better understanding the financial pressures facing police forces.15 In 2025, it analysed the financial resilience of forces, although did not assess the root causes of financial pressures or impacts on operational decisions.16 The Home Office told us that that it needs to do more work to understand the specific context of individual forces.17