Jack Dromey MP, Labour’s Shadow Policing Minister, responding to a letter sent by six Police and Crime Commissioners threatening the Home Office with legal action over changes to the way police forces in England and Wales are funded, said:
“The Tories claim they can achieve a fair funding formula for police forces, but even their own Police and Crime Commissioners do not believe them. The Tories have managed to replace one opaque, unfair formula with another.
“This is the second threat of legal challenge from senior police figures over changes to the police funding formula. Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners are warning that if the Tories go ahead with their proposals, the Police will increasingly struggle to tackle the evolving, complex nature of crime in the 21st century and keep the public safe.
“The funding formula decisions become ever more important in light of the shrinking pot available for police. Budget cuts of between 25-40 per cent proposed by the Tories in their November spending review are set to reduce police officer numbers to dangerously low levels by 2020 in forces across the country.
“Neighbourhood policing will be slashed and forces like Lancashire are set to become ‘blue-light’ only as a result of the double whammy of proposed spending reductions and unfair changes to the police funding formula.”