Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson,

Last week, our organisations outlined the core components of how we intend to make significant savings in 2025/26.

Wiltshire Police currently face an £11M funding gap for 25/26 and, in order to deliver a balanced budget, you are currently consulting on an increase to the policing element of the council tax.

We are working through these financial challenges and, on the assumption you are able to take the maximum increase permitted, £6.8M still needs to be found.

We’ve already identified £1.6M of this figure and work is underway to identify a further £5.2M via efficiencies, savings, rationalisation of our estate footprint and our vehicle numbers.

Notwithstanding these financial challenges, we both remain absolutely committed to continuing to make significant improvements to our service - ensuring Wiltshire Police becomes one of the most effective and efficient forces in the country.

Specifically, this means improving visibility in our communities and public access to our services. To achieve this, there will be no reduction in police officer numbers and we will develop the ways our communities can access us. This will include us increasing the use of our mobile police stations and our attendance at local events to ensure our visibility within communities continues to rise.

We are continuing to develop a comprehensive, three-year savings plan to ensure the organisation continues to operate as efficiently as possible.

It is crucial that we continue our improvement journey and build upon the successes we have achieved in the last 12 months – such as reforming our Neighbourhood policing model, having a greater focus on preventative, visible policing and seeing significant improvements to the quality of our investigations.

Our Medium-Term Financial Strategy will be published in the coming weeks so our communities can get more information on our plan. Anyone wanting more information on your precept proposals can do so here.

Yesterday, I welcomed Minister for Youth Justice Sir Nic Dakin MP to our headquarters to discuss how we are supporting children and young people in our county and preventing them from entering the criminal justice system.

As the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Children and Young People, I am deeply passionate about our drive to improve how policing serves children and young people.

Highlights of our work in Wiltshire include:

- Increases in Out of Court Resolutions for young people – these have gone from just five issued in 2018 to 851 issued in 2024 – an increase of 75%

- The results of our youth engagement efforts show an 18.1% reduction in knife crime within Swindon, alongside a 25% decrease in serious violence and significant reductions in robbery

- The average time high-risk children are missing has improved significantly – on average, missing children are now located in under 12 hours compared to 24 hours in 2023/24

- Launching initiatives to engender the trust and confidence of children and young people – from football and climbing sessions to us launching the Police Challenge Badge for Girl Guides and Scouts within Wiltshire Police.

The Minister was truly impressed with the work we outlined and commented that we had made ‘transformational improvements’ to how we are operating in this area.

Continuing the theme of improving our accessibility and supporting children and young people, this week we also launched our first easy-read document, designed to support vulnerable individuals in understanding how to stay safe both at home and in public spaces. This new resource is tailored to provide clear, accessible information using simple language and visual aids, ensuring everyone can benefit from vital safety advice. The guide is the result of a collaborative effort between Chloe, a supported adult on Fairfield Steps programme in Dilton Marsh, Sam Thomas, Service Manager for Fairfield Pathways and Wiltshire Police’s Early Intervention Team. The easy-read document will be available on the Wiltshire Police website and will be distributed through community partners, libraries, and police events across the county. You can read more about this initiative here.

This week also saw the launch of our Wellbeing and Trauma Support Dog Network to help support the mental health of officers and staff. The initiative aims to provide stress relief to officers, staff and volunteers who are exposed to trauma or whose roles are demanding or dangerous. It was started by Oscar Kilo, the National Police Wellbeing Service, and there are currently over 150 OK9 Wellbeing dogs across the country, with Wiltshire Police’s Wellbeing dogs adding to that already impressive number. More information on the network can be found here.

Finally, next Monday (20/01), I will be taking part in my first Facebook Live event of 2025 with our communities. I will be joined by ACC Ian Saunders who is responsible for the delivery of all front-line services.

I would encourage anyone who has any questions about our service to join us on our Wiltshire Police Facebook page from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.

Kindest regards,

Catherine Roper

Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police