Police force sees far deeper cuts than other areas Commissioner slams ‘damning’ report that exposes unfair funding system
ARREST rates are down and police are breathalysing fewer motorists because of massive funding cuts.
And West Midlands Police have been unfairly hit by a system which means it suffers bigger cuts than other forces.
That was the damning verdict in a new report by the National Audit Office, the official watchdog for public spending.
It said the Home Office “should review the funding formula and adopt an approach to funding that takes account of forces’ local circumstances more fairly.”
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said: “This is one of the most damning reports I have ever read.”
Funding for West Midlands Police has been cut by 24 per cent in real terms – after inflation is taken into account – since 2010, the National Audit Office said. The force has lost almost a quarter of its funding.
And this is the second biggest cut in the country. Out of 43 forces, only Northumbria Police had a bigger budget one.
The funding cuts are different because some forces depend more on funding from central government, while others are able to raise more from a precept added to their local council tax bills. It means that, when the Home Office cuts the grant it gives to police forces, some are affected more than others.
While no police force has failed financially, the report highlighted indications that the sector as a whole is “finding it increasingly difficult to deliver an effective service”. It said: The time it took to charge an offence increased from 14 days for the year ending March 2016 to 18 days for the year ending March 2018;
The proportion of crimes which resulted in a charge or summons fell from 15 per cent in March 2015 to nine per cent in March 2018;
The arrest rate fell to 14 arrests per 1,000 population in 2016-17, down from 17 per 1,000 population in 2014-15;
Police are carrying out less “proactive” work, with fewer breathalyser tests, motoring fixed penalty notices and convictions for drugs trafficking and possession since 2010; Survey data shows the proportion of victims who were not satisfied with the police response rose from 29 per cent in the year ending March 2016 to 33 per cent in the year ending March 2018. Mr Jamieson said: “The independent National Audit Office has now confirmed that urban forces like West Midlands Police are being hit more than twice as hard as the likes of leafy Surrey. “This confirms what we have known for long time. High demand areas like the West Midlands have had their budgets disproportionately cut compared to low crime areas. “This is a damn- a ing indictment of the Government’s disastrous handling of police funding. The Home Office needs to read this report thoroughly and change course.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “Our decision to empower locally-accountable Police and Crime Commissioners to make decisions using their local expertise does not mean that we do not understand the demands on police forces.
“In addition, the report does not recognise the strengths of PCCs and Chief Constables leading on day-to-day policing matters, including on financial sustainability.”