A number of stakeholders identified that the officer maintenance grant has led to police forces increasingly using officers in staff roles (that do not require a warranted police officer) – an expensive and inefficient practice.34 In written evidence, Leapwise estimated that this practice is costing policing at least £55 million a year.35 We were concerned that this approach to funding police officers may be incentivising practices that deliver poor value for money. The Home Office acknowledged that successive governments 28 Q 60 29 Q 59 30 Letter from the College of Policing, 8 December 2025 31 Q 59 32 C&AG’s Report, para 1.6; Q 52 33 Q 34 34 Sir Stephen House QPM (IPP0008); City of London Police IPP0010; Leapwise (IPP0013) 35 Leapwise (IPP0013) 11 have chosen to incentivise police forces to recruit officers through grant arrangements.36 We asked the Home Office whether it understood how skewed the deployment of police officers in staff roles is. It told us that it is for chief constables to decide the balance of police staff and officers, but it is seeking better quality data about how forces are using officers. However, the Home Office said that it had made £75 million available in 2025–26 for forces to spend on resourcing, whether on staff or on police community support officers and officers.37