Chair of the Police Reform and Transformation Board,
Nottinghamshire's PCC , has highlighted the real
costs of the cuts in police funding, saying police numbers are at
their lowest for 20 years, and crime is rising.
Earlier today Mr Tipping gave evidence to the Home Affairs
Select Committee's inquiry ‘Policing for the future'.
He said: "It's been tough and it looks like getting
tougher. Over the past five years police budgets have reduced by
£2.3bn, representing a 25% cut in grant. Police numbers have gone
down by 20,000, meaning there are less police on the streets. In
fact, police numbers are at their lowest for 30 years.
"We also have to take into account the changing nature of
criminality, such as the real and present threat of terrorist
attacks; cyber-crime; serious sexual violence; the rise in
reports of child sexual exploitation; and historic abuse.
Tackling crimes like this is a resource intensive and highly
complex job.
"Ministers claim that the Police have £1.6bn in Reserves.
They do not mention that levels of Reserves have fallen by 22%
since 2015 and this figure looks likely to be reduced by a
further 50% to £806m by March 2020.
"General Reserves, the amount that can be used to support
the revenue budget, have remained steady and will continue to
stay somewhere around the 3% mark. That is the generally
recognised standard level.
"But the idea that there is a huge pile of money put aside
for a rainy day is plain wrong - and it's raining hard. Let's be
clear, there is no money in the bank to support Police Budgets
into the future. That's all been used in a bid to sustain
services.
"While the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review in
2015 was better than anticipated, it didn't go nearly far
enough.
"A flat cash settlement is a real-terms cut. I believe that
police budgets will continue to reduce, probably by about £350m
each year for the next two years. That is likely to mean a
further 6,000 police officer posts will go over that two year
period.
"Quite simply, police forces need to be funded
appropriately in order to do their job. This is why PCCs and
Chief Constables are bidding for extra money - £440m next year,
increasing to £845m in 2019/20. If successful, that would fund
5,000 new officers (in England and Wales) over the two-year
period and an additional 1,100 armed officers to combat the
immediate terrorist threat.
"We're also bidding for extra funding to tackle
cyber-crime, fraud and counter terrorism.
"This isn't about nice to have, but need to have. The
Chancellor has the opportunity next week to show he recognises
the impact further funding cuts will inevitably have on public
safety. I sincerely hope he takes it."
