Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, has written to the Home Secretary on Police funding.

The full text of the letter is below:

Dear Theresa,

LETTER REGARDING POLICE FUNDING

A provincial police force has provided us with a copy of a letter from senior officials, following the meeting of Cobra last weekend, which contains details about Police preparedness following the attacks in Paris last weekend.

We can assure you that we have not given the letter to any press or media and have no intention of doing so. However, we do have serious concerns about the content of the letter and a number of the issues raised.

The letter states that:
“Countering Terrorism is heavily dependent on mainstream (not CT grant) policing asset.”

and

“Police forces across England and Wales have already seen a reduction of 40 thousand officers and further losses will severely impact on our surge capacity…”

These are points that we have made on several occasions. Mainstream policing plays an important part in collecting intelligence and providing additional officer numbers to aid and support the work of the intelligence and security services. Reductions in mainstream policing will not only significantly impact on the ‘surge’ ability of the police to provide the additional support required at an emergency incident, but cuts to neighbourhood policing will have a detrimental effect on local intelligence gathering and countering terrorism.

These are issues of major importance that need to be carefully considered and fully taken into account when determining the spending settlement for the Home Office and Police Budget in the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.

The letter also makes clear that cuts to the Police Budget above 10% are not manageable. We have consistently warned that cuts above 10% would be dangerous and put public safety at risk. 

As set out in my letter to you on 17th November, whilst we remain of the view that efficiency savings up to 5% are achievable, anything above that is more difficult. Given the events in Paris last weekend we repeat our belief that it would be unwise to ask the Police to deliver further difficult savings above 5% over the next five years.

The Shadow Chancellor wrote to the Chancellor offering our support for excluding enhanced security expenditure and the Police Budget from the parameters of the Charter for Budget Responsibility and we repeat that offer again.

A number of the issues raised in the senior officials’ letter are of significant public interest and we trust you will give full and serious consideration to those matters and to the points we have reiterated here.

Yours sincerely,

Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP

Shadow Home Secretary

​Jack Dromey MP

Shadow Policing Minister