Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner, Clive Grunshaw, has today written to MPs and provided a briefing to set out the financial position of Lancashire Constabulary. The Commissioner is calling on Lancashire MPs to raise the issue of fair funding of Lancashire Police with the government after figures show that Lancashire is still around 450 police officers worse off than in 2010 whilst forces such as Surrey have seen an increase in the number of officers.
The briefing pack sent to MPs covers the financial implications of the government’s financial settlement which saw Lancashire once again relying on increasing the police precept to meet the shortfall.
Commenting Clive Grunshaw said “I am calling on Lancashire MPs to raise the issue of fair funding for Lancashire Police with government after another financial settlement which passed the burden of underfunding onto hard pressed local council tax payers.
“Once again Lancashire is left in a comparably worse position to other forces who are able to raise higher sums through local taxation or forces who have barely lost any officers since the introduction of the government’s austerity programme in 2010.
“It cannot be fair that Lancashire is around 450 officers worse off than 2010 whilst leafy Surrey has dodged the cuts and stands at just over 100 officers better off than 2010.
“I have consistently stated that more funding needs to come from government grant and not from further council tax increases. Furthermore, a long term plan is required for police funding which addresses the growing pressures on the service instead of one year gifts that paper over the cracks that years of underfunding have caused.
“The message is simple – we want our bobbies back. We need proper assurances about how policing will be funded in the long term and a fair funding settlement that reflects the unique circumstances Lancashire faces as a police service to keep people safe.”
Clive Grunshaw continues to push for progress to reform the unfair police funding formula, which currently sees forces like Surrey gaining police officers having only lost eight since 2010. By comparison, even after this year’s uplift Lancashire will still have around 450 fewer.
