'Postcode lottery' over police funding - PCC

The “postcode lottery” of police funding could force residents to shoulder more of the burden, according to Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Lisa Townsend.

The PCC said she fears it will be inevitable taxpayers will have to contribute more to policing.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced she will end the “postcode lottery in policing”, in a speech to local PCCs and police chiefs on 19 November.

She confirmed that central government funding for police will go up next year by around £500m and said a detailed breakdown of funding allocations for each force will be published mid-December.

Surrey’s Commissioner said she fears money will be distributed unfairly in Surrey, from the government’s “not fit for purpose” police funding formula.

She said: “There’s an idea that Surrey is wealthy, but Surrey Police isn’t.”

The way money is divided up for police forces means that some areas receive a significantly larger share than others.

Money allocated to Surrey covers just 45% of the total budget whereas other areas such as Northumbria get 80%.

Surrey Police has to save, or cut, £23.4m over the next four years to maintain its current service, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Ms Townsend said she did not want to alter Surrey Police’s service to make residents suffer.

She said: “What we’re not clear on is what else the government wants us to cut.”

The PCC said she is “not optimistic” about Surrey achieving more money from the new government, despite the county getting an additional £17.3m last year. 

“We’ve got nobody making the case for us,” Ms Townsend added, “we’ve got no Labour MPs or Labour councils.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Government will fully compensate police forces for the impact of the changes to National Insurance Employer contributions.”

They added: “Details on the allocation of this funding will be confirmed at the provisional police settlement in mid-December.”

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