N8 PRP has funded two new Police Priority Grants and opens a new call for funding.

The N8 Policing Research Partnership has announced funding for projects on Voluntary Interviews and Officer Wellbeing, and opened a new call for applications to the Police Priority Grants. Funding is available for 12-month projects starting in August 2026, with the deadline for applications on 30 April 2026.

Police Priority Grants seek to fund innovative ideas and collaborative research to generate new resources for N8 PRP partners, supporting the development of policing research and evidence-based policing. 

Funding awards for voluntary interviews, officer wellbeing

N8 PRP Police Priority Grant funding has been awarded to Dr Lindsey Rice, University of Sheffield, for Voluntary Interviews in Theory and Practice, and Dr Verity Wainwright, University of Manchester, for Understanding Police Engagement with Wellbeing Resources and Interventions. 

Voluntary Interviews

Dr Lindsey Rice, Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Sheffield, has been awarded £24,297 to investigate the use of voluntary interviews at South Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire Police, with an advisory group from West Yorkshire Police, the National Appropriate Adult Network, and the Centre for Justice Innovation.

An exploratory study, the project will address the lack of empirical evidence on on how safeguards are maintained in voluntary interviews (VIs) – that is, formal police interviews with suspects not under arrest, typically used when the arrest threshold is unmet.

The project responds to the 2025-26 N8 PRP Police Research Priority on ‘Investigations and Outcomes’, and is a timely consideration of practice as new NPCC VI guidance are prompting forces to reassess the role of VIs alongside pre-charge bail, creating an opportunity to inform procedures before they become embedded.

A project report and webinar is scheduled for delivery July 2027.

Officer Wellbeing

Dr Verity Wainwright, Lecturer in Forensic Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, has been awarded £37,824 to investigate how police staff engage with available wellbeing resources.

Dr Wainwright will lead an interdisciplinary team at the University of Manchester (Professor Rose Broad, Criminology, and Dr Polly Turner, Forensic Psychology) to work with partners at Cheshire and Merseyside Police to develop an evidence-based understanding of how police staff and officers understand, experience, and engage with available wellbeing resources, and what factors enable or inhibit staff engagement with wellbeing support.

The project responds to the 2025-26 N8 PRP Police Research Priority on ‘Policing and Health’. There has been significant investment into police wellbeing in recent years, but rates of work-related stress, anxiety, or low mood remain extremely high according to the 2024 Police Federation of England and Wales Pay and Morale Survey. By exploring how police engage with current wellbeing resources, this study aims to improve the ability of police forces to address the challenges to staff wellbeing.

A project report and webinar is scheduled for delivery May 2027.

New Call for Funding

N8 Policing Research Partnership has announced that the a new N8 PRP Police Priority Grants Call will open from Monday, 16 February until Thursday, 30 April. A fund of £86,890 is available and is expected to fund around 3 projects. Projects will start in August 2026 for 12 months.

Through the Police Priority Grants, N8 PRP supports researchers at N8 universities to develop the evidence base and collaborations that will enable them to impact police policy and practice and to seek external research funding to further develop their work.

Applicants are invited to respond to the 2025-26 N8 PRP Police Research Priorities, or to propose their own topic with operational significance for police partners and the potential for long-term impact in research, policy, and practice.

Proposals should be developed in collaboration with at least two N8 PRP police partner forces. Potential applicants who would like help finding research partners should contact the N8 PRP project manager or their institutional lead.

Potential applicants are asked to review previous projects funded by N8 PRP. As the Police Priory Grant is a seedcorn fund, projects must be meaningfully distinct from any previously awarded by N8 PRP, and must not be a continuation or duplication of work previously funded by N8 PRP. Researchers who have previously received N8 PRP funding are welcome to apply if they are proposing a new project that requires development funding.

Further details, including how to apply, are available on the N8 PRP Police Priority Grants Call page.

If you have any questions, please contact the N8 PRP project manager, Helen Gordon-Smith.

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