Police face cuts without more cash – commissioners

Jobs could be cut without a fairer funding deal, a police and crime commissioner (PCC) has warned.

Several police forces have written to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, warning of a £300m funding shortfall.

Lincolnshire's PCC Marc Jones has signed the letter, along with representatives from the Metropolitan Police and forces in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk and Suffolk.

The Home Office said it had already increased investment in policing by half a billion pounds this year.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, officials claimed a higher-than-inflation pay award of 4.75% would cost millions to fund, and lower staff numbers would make it harder to hit targets on things such as knife crime and violence against women and girls.

In a post on X, Jones said this reflected "the reality of the chaos of police funding".

He said that "national politicians need to get real and fund policing properly".

The PCC also blamed a watchdog's recent critical report of Lincolnshire Police as evidence of "generational underfunding".

Inspectors highlighted five areas of concern, but Jones said almost all of them related to a shortage of officers and staff.

The Home Office said that all police forces would be compensated for higher National Insurance contributions, and it would be down to forces to set their own council tax levels.

"The home secretary has already announced an increase of over half a billion pounds of central government funding for policing next year, with a core grant increase of more than £260m," a spokesperson said.

"This overall increase also includes an additional £100m to reinvigorate neighbourhood policing and restore a visible presence of officers to our streets.

"Further funding and details on the overall settlement will be announced in due course," they added.

Correction 12 December 2024: The article originally included reference to Bedfordshire Police who did not sign the letter to the home secretary and so we have removed them from the story.

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