THE WEST Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has said the increase in police funding in the Chancellor’s Spending Review will be ‘significantly challenging’.
The government said the spending power of police forces would go up by an average of 2.3 per cent per year in real terms b 2029, assuming local taxes go up to.
However, Simon Foster has said this would lead to a challenging situation for West Midlands Police which has faced more than a decade of underinvestment in policing and our wider criminal justice system, that saw WMP lose 25% of its police officers and still have about 700 fewer police officers than in 2010.
He said: “The spending review, announced on 11 June, is a significantly challenging outcome for policing.
“The 1.7 per cent real terms average annual increase for policing, over the spending review period 2025/26 to 2028/29 is welcome, but it will place yet further pressure on our budget, particularly if we are to deliver on the government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee and its missions, to halve violence against women and girls and youth violence and knife crime.
“I welcome the £12.2million investment that we have already received, enabling us to recruit 150 additional neighbourhood police officers and the further investment in our wider criminal justice system, including in counter-terrorism policing, our courts and our probation and prison services.
“We will be considering the detail set out in the Spending Review, carefully reviewing our existing financial plans and awaiting the announcement of force level allocations of funding, that will not be available until December 2025.
“I am committed to working with the Chief Constable, West Midlands Police and government, to ensure we are able to build on the progress that has been made and deliver on my Police and Crime Plan and in particular, my commitments to prevent and tackle crime, rebuild community policing, prevent and tackle violence, improve road safety and keep the people, families, businesses and communities of the West Midlands safe and secure. I will also continue to call for the return of our nearly 700 fewer police officers and fair funding for West Midlands Police.”
