Police Overtime Expenditure examines the significant variance in overtime between police forces in England & Wales. Such overtime payments have more than doubled since 1998-9, despite the 12% increase in the number of police officers in the same time period – indeed, for the majority of forces, increased officer numbers led to an increase in overtime expenditure, rather than a reduction.  There is a clear need in the current financial climate to achieve savings by reducing overtime, and the briefing makes recommendations for such savings to be made simply through better management practices.