‘Funding for police forces cut by £413m’ – Labour
POLICE forces in England and Wales have experienced realterms cuts totalling £413m in their main grants from central Government since 2015, according to figures released by Labour.
Only two of the 43 forces – DyfedPowys Police and North Wales Police – avoided real-terms cuts in the grant over the period.
According to Labour’s figures, the axe is falling the hardest on South Wales Police, which has seen a 5.7% reduction in real terms, while Gwent Police has seen 5.4% real-terms cut.
But the Home Office said the police system as a whole had received a budget increase of more than £475m from taxpayers since 2015, when additional money provided through sources like special grants, the Police Transformation Fund and receipts from council tax are taken into account.
Analysis by the House of Commons Library showed the total police grant settlement to forces fell from £7,452,541,075 in 2015-16 to £7,324,892,843 in 2017-18 – a cut of almost £128m (1.7%) in cash terms.
When inflation is taken into account, the researchers found the real value of the cut was £413m, or 5.4% of the total grant. The figure excludes special payments to the Metropolitan Police Service and City of London Police.
Labour claim the figures contradicted the claim of Home Secretary Amber Rudd to a parliamentary committee last month, when she said: “The funding provided to individual police forces, we have protected it from 2015 to 2020.”
Labour policing spokeswoman Louise Haigh said ministers had been “caught red-handed” after promises to protect police funding.
She said: “They claimed to have protected police spending, but in reality forces across the country have lost out.
“These reckless cuts are a threat to public safety. It’s time the Tories kept the promise they made to the police.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “In 2017, taxpayers invest £11.9bn in our police system, an increase of more than £475m from 2015, and this Government has protected overall police spending in real terms since the 2015 Spending Review.
“However, we recognise that demand on the police is changing, and we are very sensitive to the pressure they are under. That is why we are reviewing demand and resilience, as well as police plans for greater efficiency and prudent use of over £1.6bn of financial reserves.
“As part of this process we are speaking to chief constables, police and crime commissioners and frontline officers from across the country.”
South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael said: “The continued squeeze on the UK Government’s contributions to police funding is causing real problems.
“If you look at it over the period since 2010, the reduction in the Government contribution to South Wales Police is now 21% in cash terms and over 35% in real terms. In recent years many specific funds were rolled into the main grant that was then cut.
“One was for PCSOs, which was ring-fenced, and is rolled into the police grant. It is very irritating to see the Home Office make reference to reserves.
“I can say the reserves at South Wales Police are modest and prudent. There is a need to replace vehicles, equipment and buildings which are often old and no longer fit for use.
“The reserves are there to meet major challenges that you can not predict and you would be irresponsible not to keep some.”