Public confidence in the police has been ‘severely dented’ as forces reprioritise work in response to funding cuts according to a committee of MP’s.

The report concludes that it is depressing that the Government still has a poor understanding of the on the ground reality of its funding regime.

The report by the Public Accounts Committee has recommended that The Home Office needs to improve its understanding of the demands on police and act on it and that the police funding formula must be reviewed urgently and replaced as soon as possible.

Funding for police forces is down by nearly a fifth since 2010-11 and there are nearly a fifth fewer officers and staff. Inevitably there are consequences and forces are under increasing strain.

Forces cannot do everything and are prioritising their work by cutting back in some areas, such as neighbourhood policing meaning fewer officers on the street.

Public confidence in the police is declining and officers’ personal resilience is under pressure with this reduction in visibility.

Violent crime and sexual offences have increased and forces are dealing with more incidents which are not crime related, at the same time as coping with fewer frontline staff. Forces are feeling the pressure of ‘cost shunting’ as cuts to other areas of public spending, such as health, are passed onto policing because it is so often the first line of response.

Policing by consent relies on public confidence and this is being severely dented. Despite the pressures facing forces, it is disappointing that the Budget did not address the financial sustainability of police forces, particularly in relation to neighbourhood policing which has borne the brunt of cuts.

At a time when funding is tight, the Department must make tough choices about its priorities for policing. But it is not showing strategic leadership of the policing system and has acted too slowly in response to known financial sustainability problems.

It does not have a national picture of demand for police services and so has a limited understanding of what resources forces need.

The Department’s formula for distributing funds has long been acknowledged as unfit for purpose, as this Committee reported in 2015, but has still not been updated.

In the absence of a proper formula, central government funding to local forces has been subject to crude cuts across the board, which do nothing to take account of the complexities of local circumstances. Local taxpayers are paying more to fund police services, compensating for the 30% central government cuts, while seeing less local policing.

Public Accounts Committee Chair, Meg Hillier MP, says:

“The ‘thin blue line’ is wearing thinner with potentially dire consequences for public safety. Public confidence and trust that the police will respond is breaking down.

“Funding reductions of nearly a fifth have placed severe strain on police forces, which have in turn been forced to cut back. The results are stark.

“The Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside told us that the impact of austerity had been immense, causing the loss of force-wide resources such as robbery and street-crime squads.

“In Devon and Cornwall, neighbourhood policing has been hit to the extent that the PCC believes ‘our communities do not feel safe’. The Chief Constable of Durham told us the public feel let down.

“Last week, the Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council added her voice to those concerned about what over-stretched forces can realistically be expected to do.

“In this context it is not surprising that officers’ personal resilience is under pressure, too – not least from serving as ‘first responders’ as cuts to other public services continue to bite.

“This cannot continue. Government must show leadership and get on with fixing the flaws at the heart of its approach to policing.

“In particular the Home Office must improve its understanding of the real-world demands on police, and use this information to inform its bid for funding from the Treasury. And when it secures that funding, it must distribute it effectively.

“It is wholly unacceptable that, more than three years after accepting the police funding formula needs to change, the Home Office has no firm plans to do it.

“If it is to convince police and the public that it is serious about addressing their concerns then it should set out a plan as swiftly as possible.

“The messages from communities and police forces across the UK are clear. The Government must act now.”

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