The West Mercia Police and Crime Panel is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, 5 November 2025, to discuss the Police & Crime Plan, budget metrics, rural crime, and the work programme. The meeting will be held at Wyre Forest House, the headquarters of Wyre Forest District Council. The headline topic for discussion appears to be the financial challenges facing West Mercia Police.

Financial Management and Budget Metrics

The panel is expected to discuss the financial challenges facing West Mercia Police, including a reported £27.7 million in savings plans for the 2025/26 financial year. These savings plans are scheduled to be delivered across three tranches. According to the Police & Crime Plan Activity and Performance Monitoring Report, these tranches relate to:

• The initial plan (which produced the budget)
• The one-off response to the end-of-year overspend
• The response to structural issues identified in the year

The panel will also consider a Budget Metrics Report, which includes key performance indicators (KPIs) set out alongside recent budget setting processes. The report states that there is a need to deliver £27.7m of savings in 2025/26 to ensure that in year revenue expenditure is maintained within the resources available, and to restore the reserves held to meet minimum levels assessed to support the sustainability of the organisation.

The report pack indicates that both the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) and the Chief Constable are working with the Home Office to find a resolution to the one-off cost of change impact that the organisation has.

Police & Crime Plan Activity and Performance

The panel will receive an overview of the activities undertaken by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) in support of the West Mercia Safer Communities Plan. The plan has four key objectives.

The report pack states that a delivery plan has been produced to support monitoring and assurance of progress against individual elements within the plan and will continue to be scrutinised at the PCC's monthly governance meetings.

The panel will also receive an update on key performance indicators (KPIs). These metrics focus on crimes that have the greatest impact on communities, including traditional police and crime measures, neighbourhood crime, serious violence, domestic abuse and criminal justice outcomes for victims; as well as metrics that enable robust financial management.

The report pack states that the metrics are also aligned to local Safer Communities Plan priorities and current national policing priorities against which the force must deliver improvements.

Some of the performance indicators that are scheduled to be discussed include:

• Total recorded crime
• Violent crime
• Rape offences
• Robbery offences
• Residential burglary
• Vehicle crime
• Domestic abuse
• Call handling
• Public confidence
• Emergency response times
• Victim satisfaction
• Financial Outturn
• Reducing the carbon footprint associated with policing

Rural Crime

The panel is expected to discuss rural crime, including the work of the five full-time specialist Rural and Business Crime Officers (RABO) funded by the PCC. The panel has previously indicated an appetite to review and scrutinise rural crime as an area of PCC activity.

The report pack notes that West Mercia Police defines rural crime as any offence occurring within a rural area, as determined by DEFRA's Rural-Urban classification.

The panel will also discuss partnership working with organisations such as the National Farmers Union (NFU). The NFU has agreed to deliver training to call handlers to ensure they are educated on the issues that impact rural communities.

Work Programme

The panel will consider its work programme for 2025/26 and agree whether it wishes to make any amendments. The work programme takes into account routine items, items which are required to be considered by the Panel at particular points in the year and topics for which the Panel has asked the PCC to provide a report.