MP says ‘substantial increase’ in funds is needed to fight knife crime in Coventry
A COVENTRY MP has said police need a “substantial increase” in funds in order to fight knife crime in the city.
Jim Cunningham, MP for Coventry South, said the crime was “still as pressing as ever in our area” following the stabbing of a teenage boy in Trinity Street on Saturday (February 2).
His comments came as Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced the government would be providing police with what he called the biggest increase in funding since 2010.
He said the money would allow forces to recruit more officers.
West Midlands Police will receive a total of £453,022,851 in government cash for 2019/20 - around £8.2 million more than the £444,096,368 the force took last year.
However the cash injection can only be used on four listed priority areas, two of which are focused on efficiency savings, one on increasing the number of detectives, and the fourth on tackling organised crime. But the rise has been slammed by Labour shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, who said the funding levels proposed by ministers are “nowhere near covering what forces need” and “patently inadequate”.
Thousands of officers have been lost in Coventry since 2010 - despite crime rising in the region.
The number of police officers in the city has dropped by almost a quarter since then from 8,626 full-time police officers in 2010 to 6,559 fulltime police officers in September 2018.
Jim Cunningham said: “I asked the Home Office to do more to increase funding for the police in Coventry and the West Midlands; in response to the growing number of knife crime incidents in our area and increasing levels of crime across the country. “On Saturday we saw yet another stabbing in Coventry, showing that the problem of knife crime is still as pressing as ever in our area.
“I strongly feel that having more police officers on the streets would help to tackle this issue and the Government must increase funding to make this possible. Today, the Government will be revealing the new funding settlement for police services across the UK. I shall be asking the Government to ensure they offer the substantial increase our police forces need.” Mr Javid says police constabularies must use the extra money on priority areas:
to continue efficiency savings
resolving the shortfall in detective numbers
continuing improvements in productivity leading to £50m savings next year
respond appropriately to the threat of organised crime
He added that government grants handed to Police and Crime Commissioners would also rise by £161m, and that an extra £12m is being invested into police forces.