THE county’s police force will receive £17million in funding over the next year as the Government looks to get an extra 20,000 officers on England’s streets.
The money is a cut of a newly announced £15.8billion pot of cash set aside for policing nationally, as the Government looks to get safer streets and cut crime.
However despite the seemingly positive news, Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw has slammed Westminster leaders - saying the county will remain worse off than it did ten years ago thanks to years of cuts.
Reacting to the announcement, Mr Grunshaw said: “Whilst every single additional officer back onto the streets of Lancashire is of course welcome and needed to help make our communities safer, behind the headlines we again see that the county is still suffering after almost a decade of Government funding cuts.
“We will remain around 450 officers worse off than 2010 whilst places like Surrey will now be over 60 officers better off than when austerity in policing began. This is obviously unfair and the people of Lancashire will rightly be angry and feel left behind by a settlement that does not give us back the resources we have lost.
“Alongside this, the Government continues to force Police and Crime Commissioners into utilising council tax flexibility that they have once again left as the only way to avoid a funding gap and potential reductions in key services. They have done this at a time of hardship for many due to the ongoing pandemic and subsequent economic impact this has had.”
Mr Grunshaw has written to the Policing Minister Kit Malthouse asking him to ‘think again’ about offering Lancashire a settlement that recognises the damage that has been done by cuts to funding.
Meanwhile Conservative MP for Pendle Andrew Stephenson said: “Officers and staff at Lancashire Constabulary have been instrumental in keeping our community safe this year, and I pay tribute to them for their hard work and professionalism.
“I am delighted to see Lancashire getting an additional £17million next year. I was proud to be elected last year on a promise to get more officers onto the streets and to ensure our police have what they need to keep us safe.
“This Conservative Government is now doing exactly that – ensuring we build back safer as we recover from coronavirus.”
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