17th December 2020 News

Commissioner calls on funding fairness from Minister as latest police funding settlement announced

Announced on Thursday 17th December by Policing Minister Kit Malthouse, the settlement has left a funding deficit, and pushed the burden of police funding onto council taxpayers.

Funding for additional officers through the Government’s uplift programme will also still leave Lancashire Constabulary around 450 officers worse off than when austerity in policing started over a decade ago.

Meanwhile, areas who have lost less officers since 2010 continue to benefit, with Surrey now around 65 police officers better off than ten years ago.

Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw said:

“Whilst every single additional officer back onto the streets of Lancashire is of course welcome and needed to help make our communities safer, behind the headlines we again see that the county is still suffering after almost a decade of Government funding cuts.

“We will remain around 450 officers worse off than 2010 whilst places like Surrey will now be over 60 officers better off than when austerity in policing began. This is obviously unfair and the people of Lancashire will rightly be angry and feel left behind by a settlement that does not give us back the resources we have lost.

“Alongside this, the Government continues to force Police and Crime Commissioners into utilising council tax flexibility that they have once again left as the only way to avoid a funding gap and potential reductions in key services. They have done this at a time of hardship for many due to the ongoing pandemic and subsequent economic impact this has had.

“I have written to Kit Malthouse, the Policing Minister, asking him to think again, and deliver a settlement that is truly fair for all and recognises the need to fix the damage done through cuts to police funding since 2010, targets those areas most impacted and puts those officers back onto the streets here in Lancashire.

“I will continue to lobby Government to ensure the county’s voice is heard and keep standing up for Lancashire.”

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