Funding cuts are a real emergency
CRIME CZAR FEARS THEY CANNOT ANSWER ALL 999 CALLS
CRIME Czar Vera Baird has warned police might struggle to respond to 999 calls after Government funding was frozen for the next 12 months.
Ms Baird said she fears the Northumbria force may be put in a “vulnerable” position as it struggles to balance the books.
Ms Baird said: “There is now a danger that Government cuts may put us in the vulnerable position of not being able to respond to an emergency or to fund major change costs because we simply don’t have the reserves to do so.”
The warning, in a letter to MPs, came as the Commons approved the annual Government grant to police forces.
After years of cuts, the Government grant for the Northumbria has been set at £222.6m - the same as last year.
Durham Constabulary gets £84.7m, also the same as last year.
But this is still a cut in real terms, because of inflation.
Total funding for Northumbria Police will rise by £5.1m and funding for Durham will rise by £2.4m, thanks largely to increases in council tax.
In both areas, the Police and Crime Commissioners have imposed a £12-a-year increase on the precept for a band D home, the highest permitted.
But forces also face extra costs, including the Government’s decision to end the 1%-a-year pay cap on police salaries.
Officers are to get a 2% rise but forces have to find the money to pay for this.
At the same time, official police figures suggest crime is rising.
Northumbria Police recorded 38,467 incidents of violent crime in the 12 months up to September 2017 - up 25% compared to the 29,617 incidents recorded a year previously.
Prime Minister Theresa May told the Commons rising crime statistics were a result of improvements to the way police recorded crime.
North East MPs have written to the Government to say they are “deeply concerned” about police funding, and said the only way forces had avoided cutting police numbers further was by using their reserves.
North Durham MP Kevan Jones said: “Isn’t it a fact that from 2010 to 2015 the police budget from central Government was reduced 5% every single year?”
He said Whitehall was continuing “to move the burden of funding away from Government and on to local ratepayers” by freezing Government grants and encouraging Police and Crime Commissioners to increase council tax.
Mrs May told the Commons she had previously asked Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to look at the recording of crime to make sure forces were “doing it properly”.
She added: “We also see £450m extra being made available to police.”
The PM said forces are also taking more notice of vulnerable victims and doing more on modern slavery and domestic violence, adding: “Taking issues seriously that they weren’t taking seriously before.”
She added: “You can’t get away from the fact that what the Government is doing is protecting police budgets - in fact, not just protecting police budgets but increasing, with £450m extra. “What we’re also doing is ensuring our police also have the powers that they need to do the job we want them to do. “I seem to remember you don’t have that good record when it comes to increasing the powers for police to do their job.”
There is now a danger that Government cuts may put us in the vulnerable position of not being able to respond to an emergency