A letter to the priminister
The letter, which was copied to the Home Secretary, Priti Patel and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) Chair, Katy Bourne called on the Prime Minister to meet with the Police and Crime Commissioner to understand the journey of Lancashire Constabulary since 2010 and to consider this in the allocation of police officers.
Pointing to forecasts made since the Prime Minister’s announcement for new officers, the letter shows that should any increase in numbers be made using current funding arrangements as a baseline, Lancashire would stand to lose out compared to other areas. The modelling, produced by the Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner, shows that Lancashire Constabulary would still be 250 officers short of 2010 levels whilst Surrey Constabulary would benefit by the same amount of officer numbers.
Commenting, Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Clive Grunshaw, said “I am calling on Boris Johnson and the Government to match our ambition in Lancashire and replace the 750 officers lost since 2010.
“For Lancashire to lose out whilst other forces actually put on officer numbers would be akin to sending officers by the bus load to other forces. This simply will not suffice and the people of Lancashire will not accept this settlement.
“Despite Boris Johnson promising to deliver 20,000 officers across the country, he has yet to provide us with any details about where these officers will be and it is my understanding that a decision will be made before the end of August.
“I have asked for a meeting with the Prime Minister to understand the journey that Lancashire Constabulary has taken since the introduction of austerity in 2010 so that he can bear this in mind when coming to any final decisions. “I am standing up for Lancashire and want to make sure that any allocation of officers is fair and appropriately funded”.
