Spending Review risks stretching the thin blue line even thinner

PCC John Campion has expressed grave concerns that West Mercia Police, and the communities it serves, will be impacted due to the level of funding being made available for policing.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced today, as part of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, that police core spending power will increase by 1.7% from this year which includes the council tax precept.

The Chancellor’s announcement follows reports that the Home Secretary, head of the Home Office, was timed out of negotiations with the Treasury.

The PCC said: “The drama we have seen over the last few days where the Chancellor has in effect ignored the Home Secretary is detrimental to their pledge to boost local policing.

“The question of whether the Government were going to put law and order at the heart of their mission has been answered. To govern is to choose and, whilst the Government has turned on the taps in some areas, policing has been short-changed.

“Whilst more money is available, it’s simply not enough at a time when pressure on the police has never been greater as we balance inflation, pay rises, National Insurance contributions, and demand.

“With an outdated funding model that does not see West Mercia receive its fair share of Government funding, the bill will, once again, be left at the door of local communities who continue to pick up the cost of policing through council tax.

“Despite the challenges we continue to face, crime has fallen significantly in West Mercia over the past twelve months thanks to the force’s hard-working police officers and staff. But I know this can so easily be undone without the Government matching our local ambition and providing the resources needed to enable them to succeed. 

“Instead, today’s announcement only brings closer the absurd scenario where we backfill staff roles with police officers, taking them off the frontline, due to ever growing financial pressures. A position at odds with our priorities and the stated ones of the Government.

“Therefore, it’s vital the Chancellor listens to leaders across policing and quickly changes course as the Government risks stretching the thin blue line to breaking point.”