“The Home Secretary will be failing our communities if she expects the police funding bill to be passed onto hard-hit households in the North East”, warns PCC Kim McGuinness

NOW is not the time to be pushing policing cost increases onto cash-strapped bill payers, warns a strongly worded joint letter sent to Home Secretary Suella Braverman, from Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner and supporting PCCs.

With growing calls for the nation’s police forces to be fully funded as the cost-of-living crisis bites, the letter calls on the Government to step in with additional funding to prevent under-pressure households having to carry the financial burden through their taxes.

Police forces, notably Northumbria which has suffered some of the worst budget cuts in the country over the last decade, is facing extreme pressure due to no budget flexibility and increased demand. The rises in utility and fuel costs, which are uncapped for police forces and are also compounding problems.

At the same time, households are facing unprecedented cost pressures and too many will struggle to cope as they are already on low or fixed incomes. This makes it inappropriate to continue increasing the burden on the council taxpayer, through the police ‘precept’ prompting PCCs and Mayors across the UK to come together and write a joint letter calling for urgent action.

As well as more funding, the letter also urges Government to bring in a Police Precept Freeze Grant for 2023/24 – a way of easing the unfair burden on tax payers.

The calls come following Suella Braverman’s letter to all police chiefs in England and Wales in September, which told them of the government’s expectation that they cut homicide and other serious crime, and neighbourhood crime by 20 per cent. The request caused widespread anger across hardworking policing communities who strive to cut all crime and are desperate for more resources to help them get on with the job.

Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness, said: “People across the North East are experiencing the worst poverty levels in decades, families are facing a winter where they can’t afford to heat their home, yet as Commissioner’s we are being expected to turn to these people to help fund the police service that they need to fight crime in their neighbourhoods and keep their loved ones safe- and this just isn’t fair.

The Commissioner went on to explain: “The prospect of going into next year with worsening police finances at a time of rising demand – it’s alarming. Everyone I speak to officers, teachers, business owners, mams, dads – everyone is worried there will be more victims of crime and more kids getting pulled into crime. Everyone wants to see our police force properly funded so they can police our streets and answer calls for help efficiently and effectively. I’m appealing directly to the Home Secretary to look beyond balancing the books, to listen to the boots on the ground and help the families they’re serving. We all know we have some tough years ahead and we need a tough police force to meet the needs of our communities – Government has a choice with this.”

The letter can be viewed in full here: letter

The PCCs await a response from the Home Secretary.

The PCCs who have signed the letter are: