Commissioner demands a ‘fair deal’ on policing

LANCASHIRE’S Police and Crime Commissioner has called on the Government to reassure the people of Lancashire that they will get a fair deal on policing.

Clive Grunshaw has written to policing minister Kit Malthouse MP, calling on the Government to properly protect the force with long-term funding and take into account the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had.

He said that increases to pension contributions, annual pay awards and ongoing costs around additional officers recruited as part of the uplift must be fully funded by government, to help ensure the best possible service can be provided.

Additional pressures caused by the unprecedented crisis brought by the coronavirus outbreak, including a drop in council tax receipts and additional costs to keep officers and the public safe during the pandemic, were also raised as needing to be factored in to long-term funding.

Mr Grunshaw said: “We need the Government to commit to a new, fair and comprehensive deal which recognises the challenges faced by individual police forces and addresses long-term challenges.

“Lancashire Constabulary has been named as one of the most efficient forces in the country and we’ve proven time and again that whatever resources we have are used in a responsible way that delivers for Lancashire.

“If we are to replace some of the 750 officers lost in Lancashire since 2010 and meet the Government’s own recruitment targets then we need certainty over funding. The people of Lancashire consistently tell me that they want to see frontline policing protected and we need the Government to commit to this instead of chasing headlines with impressive sounding figures that, underneath, still leave forces like Lancashire with uncertainty and still hundreds of officers worse off than a decade ago.”