Shropshire Star

West Mercia Police funding cut by £6 million

West Mercia Police's annual Government funding will be cut by almost £6 million next year, it has been revealed.

Published

The force, which covers Shropshire, will see it's settlement reduced from £116.309 million to £110.366 million – a drop of 5.1 per cent.

Bill Longmore, West Mercia's police and crime commissioner, has called for a review into how the funding is calculated in the wake of the announcement.

The cut in funding is part of the Government's £300 million reduction in funding for police forces across England and Wales.

The Government settlement for 2014/15 accounts for about 64 per cent of West Mercia's total local resources, according to the force.

Mr Longmore said: "I'm naturally disappointed to see more money being taken away from policing, but particularly so with the amount being diverted to the IPCC.

"The IPCC had a considerable rise in budget last year, and yet this year, another £30 million is being taken directly away from front-line policing to fund them."

"That money is desperately valuable to West Mercia and other neighbouring forces in the West Midlands, to make sure they have sufficient numbers of officers and staff to police each area properly. We do not want to see a situation where any force cannot operate effectively."

"I think there is a clear case for a review of the police funding formula. Some forces are particularly badly hit by the current arrangement."

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.