THE WEST Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner is calling on the region’s MPs to lobby ministers to get fair funding for the force.
Simon Foster has asked the MPs to join the cross-party campaign in a letter as the government starts a review of how police funding is distributed between forces.
The PCC is also asking MPs to join his call for the 1,000 missing officers to be reinstated in the West Midlands in order to get the force back to the numbers it had in 2010.
Since 2010 West Midlands Police has lost 2,221 police officers and in recent years the government has promised to reinstate 1,200 of them.
That leaves a shortfall of 1,000 missing officers and tens of thousands of crimes that will go unsolved as a result.
Forces like West Midlands Police rely more heavily on money from central government than council tax revenue.
In the letter to MPs Mr Foster, said: “I want to build a strong, united voice amongst elected representatives, around the need for West Midlands Police to be provided with fair and adequate funding for the benefit of the people and communities that we all represent.
“The Force, like all organisations, is facing fresh inflationary pressures, currently forecast to be up to a £14million shortfall in funding as a result next year, even though West Midlands Police is recognised as one of the country’s leanest and most financially efficient forces. This only further enhances the case for a fair funding deal.”
