Funding for police needs to change - commissioner

John Tizard was elected to the role of commissioner in May 2024

A police and crime commissioner has said that the funding formula for forces needs to be changed but appreciated it would happen "over time".

John Tizard, the Bedfordshire police and crime commissioner, said he had hoped the area would receive additional funding to meet the needs of "gun crime, trafficking and modern slavery", but he was not expecting "large sums of money to come in the short term".

A previous commissioner had criticised the government's funding formula after it classed the county as a rural area when he claimed it faced issues similar to those found in cities.

Mr Tizard, who has published his four-year crime plan, also confirmed there will not be any more police buildings in the county.

In May, Tizard was elected as Bedfordshire's first Labour commissioner in eight years. Like other commissioners he has been legally required to produce a crime plan in his first year in office.

With no prospect of an immediate change to the police funding formula, Tizard said his plan was focused on "how we use the money we have most effectively and efficiently".

He added: "Every pound we spend to add value and contribute to the benefit of the people of the county".

He said he "hoped to work with partners" and "invest in prevention to make savings in the longer term".

Instead of new police buildings in the area, he said he "would like to see more hubs and points of access in towns and villages, so people can meet with officers".

He added he wanted "to see more community police officers and police community support officers on the streets", and hope those officers would "reflect the population of the county, both in terms of ethnicity [and] other characteristics".

Tizard said that in terms of diversity the force had "gone a long way, but could go a lot further".

He added the force was "on a journey and it will take some time" and that diverse recruitment "should not be tokenistic, but be reflected not only in junior ranks, but right across the service".

Matthew Barber published his crime plan for Thames Valley in July

Matthew Barber, the police and crime commissioner for Thames Valley, which is an area that includes Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, published his crime plan at the end of July. It focused on protecting communities, people and property.

Jonathan Ash-Edwards, the police and crime commissioner for Hertfordshire, was elected in May. His crime plan is currently in draft form and has gone out for consultation to residents and businesses.

It is due to be published in the early part of 2025 ahead of the March deadline.